



GOPyRIGHT DEPOSIT 



f^<^ 




From a paiiitiiiti by Hectm' Kaclie:,. 




Frontispiece 



Johnny Reb 

AND 

Billy Yank 



BY 

ALEXANDER HUNTER 



ILLUSTRATED 
BY 

HAROLD MACDONALD 



AND 
R. }^. T0LM4N 



New York and Washington 

THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1905 



m^ 



[ JAN 16 1S05 I 



Copyright, 1904 
By Alexander Huntei 



To 
"JOHNNY REB" 

that tattered son of fortune and the nursling 
of many a dark and stormy hour, this book 
is affectionately dedicated by the 

AUTHOR 



CONTENTS 

PART I 



Chapter 



Page 

I. The Rising of the Curtain, 13 

II. The Prompter's Bell, 16 

III. Life in the Barracks, 20 

IV. Public Opinion on both Sides 32 

V. The First Retreat, 36 

VI. Breaking in the Volunteers, 42 

VII. Bull Run, 49 

VIII. From Bull Run to Washington is but Twenty-six 

Miles, 66 

IX. Camp "No Camp," 70 

X. The Ghost of Chantilly, 83 

XL Winter Quarters, 97 

XII. The Retreat, 99 

XIII. In the Trenches at Yorktown, 103 

XIV. Sharpshooters and Sharpshooters, 109 

XV. The Fat and Lean of a Soldier's Life, ii2 

XVI. "Running the Block," 121 

XVII. The Battle of Seven Pines, 126 

XVIII. The Next Day, 146 

XIX. Richmond After the Battle, 155 

XX. A Breathing Spell, 159 

XXI. Hot Times Around Richmond, 166 

XXII. The Battle of Frazier's Farm, 179 

XXIII. Sights and Scenes ill Prison, , 192 

XXIV. Prison Life at Fort Warren, 205 

XXV. Back in Old Virginia, 223 

XXVI. The Advance, 228 

XXVII. The Second Manassas, 238 

XXVIII. The Wreckage After the Storm, 256 

XXIX. Into Maryland, 266 

XXX. The Campaign Outlined, 275 

XXXI. The Battle of Sharpsburg 283 

XXXII. Paroled, 301 

XXXIII. Fredericksburg, 313 



Chapter Page 

XXXIV. The Confederate States of America, 324 

XXXV. A Long Rest, 326 

XXXVI. Hood's Men Visit the Theatre, 334 

XXXVII. The Bivouac at Petersburg, 341 

XXXVIII. In the Hospital, 345 

XXXIX. Chancellorsville, 352 

XL. The Pillar of the Confederacy Falls, 361 

XLI. After Chancellorsville, 372 



PART II. 

I. In the Cavalry, 377 

II. Gettysburg, 381 

III. The Black Horse Cavalry 418 

IV. A Dusty Camp, 424 

V. On Picket, 4219 

VI. The Hon. John Minor Botts, 433 

VII. Hard Times, 439 

VIII. Within the Enemy's Lines, 443 

IX. Captured, 449 

X. The First Escape, 458 

XI. Crossing the Potomac on a Raft, 467 

XII. Recaptured 478 

XIII. The Second Escape, 487 

XIV. Captured Again, 499 

XV. Sir John's Run 506 

XVI. The Third Escape, 510 

XVII. A Little Repose, 517 

XVIII. On the Fishing Shore, 523 

XIX. The Battle of the Wilderness, 528 

XX. The Battle Continued, 541 

XXI. The Rear Guard of the Grand Army, 550 

XXII. Off Duty, 555 

XXIII. Private Lambert's Shot, 568 

XXIV. A Typical Virginia Plantation 578 

XXV. The Capital in the Dog Days, 586 

XXVI. The Soldier's Home, 598 

XXVII. Enacting the Role of Jack Shepherd, 605 

XXVIII. En Route, ." 608 

XXIX. On a Horse Raid, 61 r 

XXX. On the Watch, 617 



Chapter Page 

XXXI. A Dashing Ride, 624 

XXXII. An All-Night Journey, 631 

XXXIII. The Peace Conference, 636 

XXXIV. "The Debatable Land," 642 

XXXV. Disaster and Defeat in the Valley, 648 

XXXVI. Famine, 661 

XXXVII. An Old Virginia Farmer in 1864, 666 

XXXVIII. How Captain John N. Meigs Was Killed, 670 

XXXIX. A Scouting Adventure, 674 

XL. Shadows, 680 

XLI. The Last Act, 688 

XLII. The Curtain Falls, 706 

XLIII. The Why and the Wherefore, 711 



PREFACE 

There were thousands of soldiers on both sides during the Civil 
War, who, at the beginning, started to keep a diary of daily events, 
but those who kept a record from start to finish can be counted on 
the fingers of one hand. I was so fortunate as to save most of my 
notes made during the four years of conflict, and in 1865, having 
no fixed pursuit in life, I spent most of the time in arranging and 
writing up these incidents of camp life while fresh in my memory. 

I have given in these pages veracious account of the life of a sol- 
dier in Lee's army. 

The public have been surfeited with war literature. There is 
hardly a prominent officer North or South who has not rushed into 
print at every available opportunity; yet no officer high in rank 
dared write the exact truth, for the reason he has the feelings, the 
self-love and the reputations of those who served under him to con- 
sider. 

A private in the ranks, who has learned something of the art of 
war through tough experience in two branches of the service, should 
be able to write understandingly of that internecine conflict which 
rocked America like an earthquake. 

At least he can afford to tell the truth as to what he saw, heard and 
thought without fear or favor. And above all, a private in the ranks, 
having no grievance, can be fair and just. 

In those days "Johnny Reb" and "Billy Yank" were good com- 
rades when off duty. They had a profound respect for each other, 
and, as Bulwer says, "It is astonishing how much we like a man 
after fighting him." 

A. H. 
Washington, D. C, November, 1904. 



PART I 



CHAPTER I. 

THE RISING OF THE CURTAIN. 

Few people have any conception of the fearful ordeal through 
which the private in the ranks was called upon to pass during 
^he four years of our great civil contest. It shall be my task to 
portray the soldier's life both in sunshine and in shadow, from the 
gathering of the storm-clouds which burst upon the wide plains of 
Manassas, to the hour in which the blood-red banner went do^vn 
at Appomattox. 

It was my good fortune to serve in two branches of the service : 
infantry and cavalry — two years in each. This necessarily 
widened my experience and furnished scope for observation. 

The terms "Yankees" and "Rebels," as idioms of the camp, have 
been used without offense meant to either side. It has been my 
earnest endeavor to present a faithful and non-partisan statement 
of what passed under my own observation, so far as the life of the 
private was concerned. Of the facts of war upon which history is 
founded, I have not hesitated to make use of the most accepted 
authority on either side, having ever felt that profound respect 
for a brave foe which every veteran cherishes for another. 

Pope says : "There are two events in a man's life that he never 
forgets : the first, when he discarded small clothes and put on his 
primal breeches, and again when he transferred those small 
clothes to another, and that other his wife." Yet there are days 
more strongly impressed on my mind than these — days whose 
memory is as ineffaceable as if wrought in bronze. The 20th of 
December, i860, was one of these. 

Under the peaceful shadow of a Virginia college, its assembled 
students, from a conscientious regard for duty, had resolved to 
pay no heed to the mutterings of approaching war that came to 
them borne on the wings of every wind, and to consider the 
marching of squadrons, the tramp of hurrying battalions, the 
rumbling of artillery as naught but a phantasy of the brain or a 
winter night's reverie. 

But in vain ! As day after day passed the air grew heavy with 
signs of coming tempests, and as the excitement continued to in- 



14 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

crease, study and routine became impossible. Books were thrown 
aside and daily papers only furnished food for thought and dis- 
cussion. 

Among so many, there were enthusiasts who urged an imme- 
diate break-up, but the majority decided to remain until further 
developments. 

The end came soon. On the 20th of December, i860, startling 
news reached the college that South Carolina, taking the initiative, 
had seceded. That much was certain. Besides this there were a 
thousand rumors; among others that Gov. Letcher would bring 
about the secession of Virginia by a coup d' etat, and was prepar- 
ing to attack Fortress Monroe immediately, and to that end had 
secretly organized a volunteer force who were to storm the fort 
before reinforcements could be thrown in. It was confidently as- 
serted that there would be no resistance, inasmuch as the majority 
of the garrison were in sympathy with the South and would throw 
down their arms. 

This was read by one of the students from a letter from his 
brother, who strongly asserted the truth of his information, stat- 
ing also that he had become a volunteer and calling upon his asso- 
ciates to leave books and take up arms in the glorious cause. 

As may well be imagined, such words were as a match to tinder. 

That night the pupils held a meeting and after an exciting dis- 
cussion decided, by almost unanimous vote, to leave for their 
homes on the morrow, after which they dispersed to their rooms, 
but not to sleep. 

As for myself, imagination ran riot and rose-hued visions 
passed through my brain. Ah ! does not youth always so dream, 
and are not the siren songs of hope ever sweet? What scenes of 
glorious excitement opened before the boy's enraptured gaze, 
who does not know what his fate should be! Has he not read 
"Charles O'Malley, the Irish Dragoon"? Where is the soldier 
who has not had the easy, rollicking, glorious time that he en- 
joyed — He and his "Mickey Free" ? 

War ! It is "a little fighting every now and then, just to keep 
his hand in," leading a forlorn hope at intervals, meeting with 
adventures at every picket post, making love at every camp, 
living on deviled kidneys and grilled bones washed down by the 
best of sherry, and marrying an heiress at last. Yes ! and Napo- 
leon told his men that "every one of them carried a marshal's 
baton in his knapsack." 

What glory it might be to show the world another Massena — 



THE RISING OE THE CURTAIN 1 5 

another Ney, "cct liomme le brave des braves." Abercrombie, 
Wolfe, Caesar, Pompey, Hannibal, Cyrus, — names great to all 
times. How the boy's very soul longs to emulate their example, 
to win their glory, honor and everlasting fame. 

Ay ! so I too dreamed and so I too believed in the soldier's life, 
its ease and happiness, as devoutly as a boy holds his faith in his 
Robinson Crusoe, the child in his Santa Claus, and Mohammedan 
in his Mecca. 

But the night wore away, the day came at last and the dream 
was ended. 



O 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE prompter's BEIvL. 

No parting ever seems really sadder than that of college mates. 
The feelings are then so fresh, the intuitions so unbiased, the 
imagination so vigorous and the flush of youth so vivid in its joys 
and sorrow. The world is a beautiful unknown land, and stand- 
ing on the threshold of life not even Prince Fermoraz of the 
"Arabian Nights" had brighter visions. 

Sorrows then, no matter how they may dwarf into insignificance 
in after years, have a bitterness peculiarly their own; there exists 
no room for cynicism, doubt or distrust in that golden age when 
every woman is an angel; every eye that looks into ours seems 
honest and every man's word his bond; and so, many faces that 
morning were turned aside to conceal the trembling lip — to hide 
the tear ready to fall. 

Those young faces! they return oftentimes to memory as I 
knew them in the old happy, careless time — hopeful, ardent, aglow 
with youth's enthusiasm, joyous with spring-tide anticipations, 
reflecting faithfully every sudden impulse of the heart. How the 
life faded from them on battle-fields and in hospitals. 

Alexandria is an old, we may even call it an ancient, town on the 
northern border of Virginia, but six miles from the National 
Capital. To a stranger it has all the quiet sleepiness, the deep 
repose of some old cathedral town in Europe. Named for the 
family of Alexanders, owners of its land full three-quarters of a 
century before General Washington was born ; its streets laid out 
and named in its old English royal style the while that worthy 
gentleman walked there a mere stripling. We may yield it the 
attributes of honorable old age, pregnant with memories, and say 
it has earned the right to rest. Its proximity to the Capital of 
the United States, whose incessant stir and pulsing life might have 
infused something of activity into its sluggish veins, has only 
served to lull it into deeper repose. It stands aloof with the 
exclusiveness of the old regime and virtually says to the new- 
comer, "Keep to your side of the river and I will keep to mine." 

At the breaking out of the war, though the heart of loyalty 
beat so near, Alexandria was decidedly Southern. Washington 
organs spoke of it as "a hot-bed of treason," hence it woke into 



THE PROMPTER S BEl.Iv 1/ 

sudden life and prepared for strife with an impetuosity defying 
restraint. 

Political questions of the hour seethed and bubbled in a very 
maelstrom of excitement; the streets became in appearance those 
of a fortified city. Nearly every man wore a uniform ; the rattle 
of the drum, the scream of the fife was heard day and night. Sol- 
diers everywhere were in squads, companies and battalions, drill- 
ing, marching, counter-marching and parading. Hotels were 
crowded. In the lobbies people were discussing in ever shifting 
groups the latest news. The gHtter of the bayonets, the thou- 
sand rumors flying from mouth to mouth, the inflammatory ap- 
peals of the newspapers, all conspired to keep up the abnormal 
enthusiasm to the highest tension. At night huge bon-fires 
blazed, casting a lurid glare upon the assemblage of human faces 
flushing with excitement or paling with emotion as rival orators, 
on hastily constructed platforms, with vehement gestures and 
loud voices, descanted on the merits of union or disunion. No 
one could remain calm, even little children caught the infection 
and discussed "Secession." 

Business was in a great measure suspended, all were on the 
qui vive for the latest news. Crowds hung around the newspaper 
and telegraph offices all day. The "Reliable Man" was in his 
glory, and could be encountered at every corner, leaning generally 
against a lamp post and surrounded by an eager audience. He 
always knew more than any one else, and could tell to the minute 
just what was going to happen. A wonderful fellow is our "Re- 
liable Man." 

Alexandria was at first a conservative city, and at the com- 
mencement sent a delegate to the convention instructed to vote 
against secession. Party feeling ran high, while each side stood 
firm to his convictions. Young men in general were in favor of 
seceding. The older and more cautious espoused as earnestly 
adherence to the Union. The women and preachers, it is needless 
to say, were all disunionists. 

As each day went by one party grew stronger, and it was not 
long before the advocates of secession had everything their own 
way. Those opposed were taunted as "submissionists, cowards 
and traitors" — epithets which induced many to join the now ever- 
increasing throng bent on overt measures. 

The Alexandria Gazette espoused the cause of the Union, 
and under its worthy editor, Mr, Edgar Snowden, Sr., counseled 
moderation. 



l8 JOHNNY REB AND BII.I.Y YANK 

The secession organ was the Sentinel, edited by Mr. Smith, 
a forcible writer and an able manager. This paper was admirably 
suited to stir up and keep alive popular sentiment. It was de- 
scribed as "red hot." Its sensational telegrams and reports were 
read twenty hours out of the twenty-four by a surging, strug- 
gling crowd around the bulletin board. The Sentinel performed its 
duty well, its printing presses ran day and night. Fresh dis- 
patches were posted up on the board every half hour and her- 
alded with large capitals, such as : "The work goes gloriously on. 
Fort Pickens to be attacked to-night. Thirty Thousand Stands 
of Arms Captured at Montgomery," &c., &c., &c. Inflammatory 
appeals calculated to arouse men to frenzy were also blazoned on 
this board. 

"Arm, Virginians. The Crisis is upon you. There is no 
Union but the Union of the North against the Union of the 
South. Which will you choose ? Arm ! Arm ! ! Arm ! ! ! The 
Long Bridge will be crossed to-morrow and Virginia's sacred soil 
invaded by the enemy. Virginians, defend your homes against 
the hirelings of Lincoln." Even the ignorant street Arabs and 
little gutter snipes went about the streets singing: 

"A red cockade, and a rusty gun, 
Makes them Yankees run like fun." 

Hot, eager eyes scanned these utterances; swift and ready 
tongues repeated them, while embellishments were not wanting 
to fan the rising flame. Madness? Yes ! It seems as if nothing 
short of insanity could so inflame the people. It was like the 
wildest kind of emotional insanity, too universal to m.ake it seem 
strange. No one stopped to reason and no one suggested failure. 
It is no wonder then that the work of volunteering rushed for- 
ward. All were accepted, sick or well, half blind, deaf or crippled — • 
it mattered not, they were enrolled at once, enlisting for one year. 
Toil-worn farmers and school boys, gray-haired merchants who 
had spent their lives behind their desks, and their dapper young 
clerks, pale-faced students and brawny blacksmiths, the gentle- 
man of means and elegant leisure, and the hard-working mechanic, 
all stood shoulder to shoulder in the ranks, forming a contrast 
that might have caused a smile if every one had been in less 
deadly earnest. 

Five full^ infantry companies, one cavalry and one artillery, were 
organized in a short time in this small city. The latter was com- 
n/ianded by Del Kemper, a born artilleryman. In his company 



THE PROMPTER S BELE IQ 

were found principally roughs and fancy men, in all as desperate 
and reckless a set of fellows as one would care to meet. It was 
Kemper who delayed until night the Federal advance in their first 
attempt on Manassas, thus gaining two hours when every second 
was precious. It was Kemper who brought the German General 
Scb.enck to untimely grief when he made his virginal scout in a 
train of cars, an original move in tactics, to say the least. 

The infantry formed the nucleus of the Seventeenth Virginia 
Regiment. Its first company was the Alexandria Riflemen, an 
organization dating back many years, and the pride of the city. 
It was composed of the elite of the place, and commanded by 
Captain Morton Marye, a natural military genius, albeit a martinet 
by nature, under whose efficient instructions the company be- 
came, with probably the single exception of the Richmond Grays, 
the best drilled and most proficient in the State. Not only were 
its men taught in the evolutions of the line, but also in skirmish 
drill. This command was armed with the Mississippi rifle. 

The second company composing the Seventeenth was the 
"Old Dominion Rifles," a hundred strong; made up chiefly of 
clerks and young merchants with a sprinkling here and there of 
well-to-do shopkeepers. This was commanded by Captain Ar- 
thur Herbert, a fine disciplinarian and a splendid type of the 
Southern soldier. He had an able second in Lieut. William H. 
Fowle, who a year later commanded the company all through the 
war, and led his command in many a hard-fought battle. Captain 
Fowle w^as nicknamed "The Game-cock," and well he deserved the 
title. 

The Mount Vernon Guards was composed mainly of elderly 
men, small tradesmen and mechanics, and commanded by a certain 
Devaugn. 

The material of the two remaining companies were Irishmen. 
Later the regiment was filled up with companies from the coun- 
try, the plains and the mountains. 

To sum up all within the ranks of this same Seventeenth, we 
find the city-bred ; farmers, used to handling arms from childhood ; 
men from the mountains; country gentlemen, proud of race and 
lineage, and the sons of old Erin. 

We may not wonder then, that this Seventeenth with such 
material gained laurels all its own, winning and wearing proudly 
its hardly-earned guerdon. 



CHAPTER III. 



Uf'E IN THE BARRACKS. 



The battalion now being organized, the pride of the soldiers 
was complete. There was no hard work at first, only a triumphal 
march up and down King Street, with all the people cheering the 
troops to the echo. 

A popular fallacy existed : that a warrior's fitness was measured 
by his size. A brawny six-footer was the pride of the ladies, the 
admiration of the street gamins and the envy of his smaller com- 
panions. As he marched at the head of his company, his head 
towering above the others, his hat cocked in a defiant way, his 
features set in martial frown, he looked not unlike Mars leading 
mortals to battle. 

In the bar-room the big man was always surrounded by a group 
of admirers, who listened to him with open-mouthed wonder; the 
big man knew what war was and he knew what he was going to 
do ; he did not want ammunition, his weapon was the bayonet or 
bowie-knife — give him that! And here the big man looked so 
terribly blood-thirsty that the timid ones shuddered with abso- 
lute terror. 

It was amusing to see the big man pat the young, slender boy 
on the shoulder and tell him to cheer up, that a year or so in camp 
would spread him out and then he could hope to be a fighter too; 
then the big man would roll up his sleeve and let us measure his 
arm and strike him in the breast. 

The boys and little men were laughed at, they did not brag; 
a warhke sentiment from anything under five feet eight was deri- 
sively laughed down, and so they sensibly held their tongues. 
What availed a quiet voice where the hoarse tones from the big 
man completely drowned it? If the boy or small fellow spoke, he 
was squelched. "Wonder what he will do when we close with 
them Yankees with bayonets and bowie-knives, where will he be 
then?" At that the big man would give his mustache a ferocious 
pull, and walk off, leaving the smaller soldier utterly extinguished. 

That this was, and probably (now that the war is over) is, a 
popular error will be shown further on. It was a natural mis- 
take. Size and strength are thought to go hand in hand with 
courage. Every boy who has read the "Iliad" infers that pro- 



UFE IN THE BARRACKS 21 

digious stature, a strident voice and thews of iron afe necessary 
to make an Achilles or an Ajax. Ulysses and yEneas were men 
of doughty mould, the three guardsmen of Dumas were ath- 
letes; Mad Anthony Wayne, Sergeant Jasper and Moll Pitcher, 
heroes and heroines of the Revolution, were all big people. What 
chance or place is there for little people? 

So for a time the giants had their day, ours was to come after 
while. 

On the seventeenth of April events reached a climax, news 
was flashed over the wires that the State Convention assembled 
in Richmond immediately upon tidings of Lincoln's proclama- 
tion calling upon the governors of all States for seventy-five thou- 
sand men to coerce the South, had passed the ordinance of Seces- 
sion. The long agony was over at last and the North confronted 
the South. Whose the better chance of success? 

The South was overweighted from the start. Our adversary 
was of the same race, equally brainy, and of greater persistence. 
But the North's great superiority lay in the fact that the Slave 
States were not united. The five richest States in men and 
money, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky and Mis- 
souri were divided in sentiment, and instead of presenting a solid 
front, gave to the Union Army over a quarter of a million men. 
Missouri gave 169,111, Kentucky 79,025, Maryland 50,316, West 
Virginia 32,068, and the State of Delaware 13,670, a total of 
344,190, while the recruits from the loyal States in the Confeder- 
ate Army, not counting deserters, could be counted on the fingers 
of one hand. 

In summing up the chances between the two factions, the 
South, to an impartial observer, did not seem to have the ghost of 
a chance. 

The North was one of the richest established governments on 
the face of the earth and better equipped to wage a long and 
costly war than any nation in Europe. They had no national 
debt and they had a sound currency on a solid basis. Their cities 
were rich and populous and filled with shops, mills, factories, 
foundries, vast store-houses and arsenals. The North had also 
the finest agricultural region in the world, full of diversified agri- 
cultural products, which could be transported at will by her ex- 
tensive railroads and inland waterways. One incalculable ad- 
vantage the North possessed was her immense merchant marine 
and an efficient navy; and in addition to these they had unlimited 



22 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

credit, and ^piild command all the outside globe to aid them with 
munitions and men. 

The wealth of the South was in her raw cotton, which had to 
reach the market in driblets in order to realize. With the excep- 
tion of Richmond, there was not in the South a mill or foundry 
tliat had the machinery necessary to construct a decent fire-arm. 
Thepe was not a store-house within her realm and only the ruins 
of an armory. A few poorly equipped railroads, with poorer 
rolling stock, was her only means of transportation. In all manu- 
factures the South had ever been the bond-servant of the North, 
and now at the beginning of the struggle she had absolutely no 
manufactures and no credit. In a word, the South had to create 
and use make-shifts all the way along. 

The strength of the South lay in her immense territory, trav- 
ersed by vast watercourses; and mountains which would prove a 
refuge to her troops in case of defeat. 

Another element of supremacy the South had was her docile 
slave population, who tilled the fields and raised grain and meat 
for her armies in the field. Another thing was in her favor: her 
people along the Atlantic coast-line were as one. As for men, 
the North could place in the field three soldiers to the South's 
one, and what was more, the Northern soldiers would be thor- 
oughly armed and equipped ; but to oft'-set this numerical dif- 
ference the Southern men were of Anglo-Saxon lineage, with heart 
and soul enlisted in their cause, and fighting for their hearth- 
stones, while the Northern man was often an alien born, and 
almost always the invader. 

The personnel of the Southern army was excellent; it was 
superior to that of the North. The Southerners were inured to 
arms from infancy and all good shots, and the sons of the men of 
the Revolution or the Indian wars stood like their sires, ready to 
fight or die for what they considered their sacred rights. 

The Southern people were full of hope, the battle was not 
always to the swift and strong. They remembered that history 
was full of examples of successful rebellions: The victories of 
Thebia at Thrasynemus and Cannae, gained by Hannibal over dis- 
ciplined forces. The great conquest of the Rebel Arminius over 
the consular legions of Varrus forced back the boundaries of the 
Roman Empire to the Rhine, where they remained forever after- 
wards. Scotland for centuries resisted the power of England and 
never was conquered ; and the barefooted rebels of Valley Forge 
were victors in the end. 



UFE IN THE BARRACKS 23 

s 

When Thursday morning-, the 21st of April, i86i,4awned, the 
city seemed to have changed entirely. All classes settled down to 
hard work, the fiat had gone forth and nothing remained but to 
prepare the soldiers for the field. There had been a wonderful 
change in public opinion; but yesterday, there were hundreds of 
Union men in Alexandria ; the day after Lincoln's proclamation, if 
any remained in Virginia they were hard to find. It was but a ques- 
tion now of espousing the cause of the South and casting lots with 
State, friends, family, or taking up arms against all that was near- 
est and dearest. It was no longer "Union or Disunion," it was 
home, kindred and country. There was no middle course, no con- 
venient fence upon which a man could climb to drop later on 
either side — the tide of feeling ran too strongly for that. Party 
lines that hitherto had divided Unionists from Secessionists were 
now^ impassable barriers that separated friend from foe; to main- 
tain the cause of the North at this juncture would have been to 
render one's self a social pariah, to cast aside all that was most 
precious to the heart of man, to earn and wear, for years at least, 
the name of traitor. 

The whole city was a vast workshop, and here it was that 
v.omen {Dim les garde) stepped in. Recognizing the momen- 
tous issues of the hour, ignoring class distinctions, rich and poor, 
cultured and untutored, young and old threw themselves into the 
breach, and side by side labored with full heart and soul for the 
cause that from the first had owned their entire allegiance. All 
day long and far into the night, even on Sunday, the click of the 
sewing machine was heard, and every Southern woman in that 
city, stopping midway in her fashionable life or in her daily round 
of duties, devoted every moment to making clothes for those so 
soon to take the field. 

Having no stable government, the troops were obliged to rely 
on voluntary contributions. And these were ample ; company 
after company was equipped and their knapsacks filled, and still 
the work went on. Certainly no tribute can be too great for 
those noble women. They clothed us, fed us, not only in the first 
flush of a new excitement, but through all the long, wearv vears 
of war; gave up sons, brothers, husbands — never stopping to count 
the cost or weigh the sacrifice. They nursed the sick and 
wounded with such unfaltering patience, such tenderness, that 
only the pen of the "Recording Angel" can ever do them justice. 

We were ordered into barracks on the i8th of April, 1861, and 
settled down into a quiet but hard-working routine. Guards 



24 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

were posted, pickets set, and in short, everything was brought 
down to war footing. Volunteers now fully realized that this was 
to be no child's play, but war in grim, hard earnest. There was 
no longer marching along thronged streets behind a big brass 
band, with a gorgeously-attired drum-major leading the way and a 
hurrying crowd to follow the showy pageant with admiring 
shouts. There was no longer the nightly feast at the "City 
Hotel," where mirth and wine held high revelry and unnumbered 
toasts were drunk in glasses of "Mad Cliquot" or "Mons, Roed- 
erer." Alas! No quail on toast, no champagne, no wine and 
olives to welcome the close of the day; instead, a piece of bread, 
a cup of coffee, a thin blanket and hard floor. The contrast was 
disappdnting, to say the least. 

Then arrived an old army officer, Major George Hunter Ter- 
rett, a West Pointer, to train these untried soldiers into more 
miHtary bearing. He at once treated the dilettante volunteers as 
regulars, and ordered that the private salute the officer; he placed 
guards at the door of the barracks and permitted none to leave 
for an hour without a pass countersigned by himself. One drill 
was hardly over before another was called; no fancy drilling, but 
hard work in fatigue uniform. The fine holiday of the past 
month was over, and it was arduous labor, harder than grubbing, 
stump-pulling, or cracking rocks on a turnpike ; and to render mat- 
ters worse, soldiers by that time had become too common to ren- 
der this petted company (The Riflemen) of any special notice. 

The new volunteers who flocked to the armory every day to 
be enrolled were drilled apart in the first rudiments of forming in 
line, marking time, &c., and were known as the "goose squad." 
Some of them were very green and had never handled a weapon 
before, and could have as easily jumped through a hoop or per- 
formed the great bare-back act in a circus as to load their muskets 
properly. It must have been men like these that Artemus Ward 
put the questions to: 

"Do you know a masked battery from a hunk of gingerbread? 

"If I trust you with a gun, how many men of your own com- 
pany do you think you can manage to kill during the war?" 

Every morning at 5 o'clock the drum beat the reveille, and up 
would jump a set of poor fellows huddling on their clothes, half 
asleep, trying frantically to shove a number six foot up the arm 
of a jacket and getting an arm in a breeches leg. Then would 
be formed a line of miserable, sleepy-looking wretches, who would 
stand yawning and gaping until roll call and the order given 



hll^t IN THE BARRACKS 2$ 

"break ranks," after which there would be a rush back to bed 
again. Jupiter! what a change from soft feather beds or a tender 
hair mattress to something so hard that no rest was found. 
Nothing but continual tossing all night long, as uneasy as the 
Sybarite who found a rose leaf under his pillow. Hearken to the 
undertone of complaint rising and falling like the minor wail of 
the wind amongst the trees on some wintry night, now loud, now 
sinking into silence : 

"What in the name of the Old Scratch is the use of being waked 
up at this unearthly hour, with two hours yet before breakfast?" 

"Who can get to sleep again after being roused up in this 
fashion? Major Terrett must have cramp or a bad fit of some- 
thing and wants to take it out on us." 

Heaven rest his soul, he has enough to answer for. 

After breakfast one hour was given for recreation, and if grum- 
bling was recreation, ever}^ man had plenty of it. 

This was the routine : 

Nine o'clock, and the "old confounded sheepskin" was heard 
again and the sergeant was wont to put his carrotty head in at the 
door and yell out : 

"Fall in, men, for squad drill !" And for one long blessed hour 
there was nothing but tramp, tramp, tramping on the commons, 
until there was not a square inch in all its limits that had not felt 
the tread of each man's foot. 

At eleven, guard mount! ("As if the guard could not mount 
itself without the rest of the company.") 

Dinner at twelve. ("Nice time for men to dine!") 

Battalion drill at two P. M. ("The old hour for napping.") 

Then no sooner had the men, half-dead, come limping back 
than they were ordered to re-form and practice "Company drill." 
Any reasonable person would have imagined this would wind up 
work for one day, but no ! after crawling back there yet remained 
"Dress parade." (Oh ! the mockery of that name to one who in 
happy days gone by "had known a claw-hammer coat and white 
kids.") 

About dusk a weary, wretched lot would wriggle back to the 
barracks and be given supper at seven. 

At eight, "Roll call." ("Evidently for the purpose of seeing how 
many had been used up during that day.") 

At nine the drum sounded the "Tattoo," and "All lights out!" 
ordered and obeyed. They went out. Alack! not we, and then in 



26 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

utter darkness mutterings and murmurings began again, and 
warm discussions. 

'Td have won that game !" 

"Not you, I had a full hand, so I want that dollar." 

"You'll play no such game as that on me !" 

"Say, Bob, going to drill to-morrow ?" 

"No! I've a sore foot!" 

"So have I !" from a dozen throats in a chorus, so loud and full 
that the sergeant cries out through the half-open door : 

"Silence there !" and silence reigns. 

The surgeon was called in to examine those feet and announced 
that the disease was called "Shamming." 

After all, there is ever some sunshine intermingled with the 
shadow, and even under those circumstances pleasure was ex- 
tracted. There was music in plenty: fiddles, banjos and flutes. 
What if the neighbors did complain of the uproar, especially one 
irate old fellow, who said in his wrath, "I will sue the barracks as 
a nuisance !" He had no soul for music, the said barracks had, 
and so melody floated in the prisoned air about one-half of the 
time. 

On one occasion, with the permission of the captain, a serenade 
was planned for Major Terrett ; but those artistic, well-meant ef- 
forts were treated ungratefully — scornfully, in fact, and sad to 
relate, the amateur band was confined to the guard-house the 
next day. It happened thus : 

After permission had been granted for this pre-supposed treat 
to the commandant, the few lucky performers were excused from 
evening drill that they might practice and furbish up old tunes. 
To aid tlje memory, a nip of brandy came between each tune. As 
night drew on every single man of them, having imbibed so much, 
was in that blissful state where he felt he was a band unto himself. 

The performers started out with their instruments, accom- 
panied by a quartette, whose sole instruments were a flask of brandy 
to each, merely as a matter of throat medicine. They reached the 
commandant's residence quite late. That worthy man, all un- 
conscious of the treat in store, had long since retired. After a 
discussion, which came near ending in a fight, as to whether the 
vocal or the instrumental should open the serenade, it was de- 
cided that the quartette most merited the honor. So clearing 
their throats by a long pull at their melody-inspirer they opened 
up with "Come where my love lies dreaming," but in spite of the 
tenderness of the refrain the window remained closed. This was 



LIFE IN THE BARRACKS 2/ 

rather discouraging, so the band struck an attitude; the flutist 
leaning against the lamp post, the cornet propped alongside a 
tree trunk, the small fiddle sitting comfortably on an ash-barrel, 
the bass viol squatting on the doorstep, while the banjoist found 
himself most satisfactorily lodged on the pavement. As for the 
quartette, they were almost anywhere; one lying on the cellar 
door, sound asleep, from whence he was, at the close of the per- 
formance, carried home in a wheelbarrow. The other three had 
voluntarily commenced in stentorian tones, "Look into my eves, 
love." 

In the meantime the instrumental was doing its best. The bass 
viol grunted, the fiddle shrieked, the cornet tried to blow the roof 
off the house, the banjo thumped away on its own individual 
merits, the flute was black in the face and out of wind, when the 
window was raised at last, the Major's head protruded, and he 
thundered out: "What the devil is all that noise about? What 
is the meaning of this?" 

"Meaning," replied one of the quartette in a hiccough; "we've 
come to serenade you, ole boy. Come and take a drink, won't 
you?" 

"Take yourselves off," shouted the voice, thick with passion, 
"or I'll court-martial every mother's son of you in the morning." 

A dead silence then followed the sound of the gurgling liquor 
as it flowed down every throat. The cornet suddenly revived and 
shouted back : 

"You be d — d; we've come to serenade you, I say, and we are 
going to keep on ; ain't we, boys ?" 

A chorus of assent responded, and the music struck up where 
it had left oiT. 

While this was going on the commandant slipped down-stairs 
and dispatched his orderly for a guard. Soon the sound of tramp- 
ing feet was heard. In a voice of thunder the Major ordered them 
to arrest his serenaders, and the guard closed round. Then en- 
sued about as pretty a fight as ever was witnessed. However, the 
quartette was soon secured, especially the one who was asleep : 
but the performers, using their instruments in a manner never in- 
tended by their manufacturers, made most vigorous resistance. 
Forgetting that they had ceased to be free American citizens, at 
present devoted to the muses, they knocked and banged and 
struck out valorously, while the guard, not willing to use their 
weapons, closed in on the musical fighters, and after a fierce 
struggle and with many bruises, mastered them one by one. The 



28 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

cornet flattened his weapon on the corporal's occiput, raising a 
bump unnamed in phrenology; the fiddle was smashed to atoms 
over some other skull, while the banjo came down squarely, or 
rather roundly, on the top of a guard's head; he wore it as a neck- 
lace, the handle sticking out behind like a gigantic queue. The 
flute, just about the size of a police officer's club, might have been 
a dangerous weapon, only being hollow it shivered to pieces at the 
first blow, its sound and fury signifying nothing. The bass viol 
performed prodigious antics, describing a huge parabolic curve, 
and striking with fearful force the cranium of yet another guard ; 
there was a confused jangling of the strings and down went the 
guard prone on the ground; a second blow and one more guard 
fell, while a third man was happy enough to catch the blow on the 
butt of his musket. This finished the irate old "big fiddle," but 
with the head-piece the serenader laid about with such vigor that 
victory might have perched thereon, only, seeing the odds, the val- 
orous warrior broke out of the surroundings and took to his 
heels; in short, the whole party were lugged to the guard-house, 
Vvhere they remained all the next day. As for the bass viol, he was 
found in the morning sound asleep on a pile of planks in Smoot's 
lumber yard, with the head-piece firmly clutched in his hand. It is 
safe to add no more permissions were granted serenading parties. 

And yet another incident: 

One evening a party was given in the city, to which several of 
the company were invited. Not one of them but thought he 
would give a year of his life to be present. They sought the cap- 
tain's consent, and laid before him in moving terms the necessity 
of going; but this he did not quite see. The truth was this — Cap- 
tain Marye was in an awful humor, which, by the way, was his nor- 
mal condition; at any rate he refused those heart-rending ap- 
peals, leaving no alternative but to go without permission; but 
how, that was the question ? 

Believing that in a multitude of counselors there was much 
wisdom, they put their heads together to devise some plan. Each 
suggestion was discussed and discarded in turn ; the guards had 
been played upon so often that they understood every trick, they 
would not be bribed, they could not be fooled, to get out by the 
door was impossible, escape by way of the window had been tried 
so many times that it was useless even to think of — what could 
be done? 

In this dilemma it was finally determined to consult the Mephis- 
topheles of the company, Tom Douglas. He was waited upon in 



IvlFiC IN THE BARRACKS 29 

a body and the grievance solemnly laid before him and his assist- 
ance earnestly invoked. 

"Boys," said he, puffing slowly at his pipe, "go out and let 
me think; come back in a half-hour and I will see if I cannot help 
you, and say ! if it is convenient, one of you step down to Appich's 
and get me a couple of bottles of ale or porter; for nothing," 
added Tom sententiously, "aids the imagination like malt 
liquors." 

The desired articles were duly forwarded and Tom was left to 
his supine cogitations. It was noticed at the end of the allotted 
time, when his clients returned, that both bottles were empty; 
but there was a Hght in Tom's eyes that shone as a beacon of 
hope, and proved that the appeal to the friends of his imagination 
had not been made in vain. 

"Now, boys," said Tom, "always come to me when you want to 
get into a scrape or out of one. Have I ever failed you yet?" 

A chorus of negatives followed this question. 

"Well," continued Tom, "I am tired of working for nothing-; 
you all know that I have no invitation to this party and have to 
stay here; but if I arrange a plan for you I must be paid for it, in 
other words, you must promise me three things if you can, other- 
wise just help yourselves, that's all !" 

"Not to lend you money, Tom?" anxiously inquired one of the 
party. 

"Who said anything about borrowing?" gruffly interrupted 
Tom. whose credit was none of the best. "No, it is this: If I 
get you out safely — safely, mind, I shall exact three things: 
Firstly, whenever any of you receive a box of anything to eat I 
shall share it; ditto as regards drinks, malt or spirituous. Second- 
ly, I shall not be wakened in the morning for roll call ; some one 
of you must answer to my name ; that to be arranged among you 
to suit yourselves. Thirdly, if I shall ever be placed on extra du- 
ties one of your number will take my place ; that also to be ar- 
ranged among yourselves." 

"By Jupiter, Tom ! that's asking altogether too much," said one 
of the audience in indignant remonstrance. 

"Do you expect these things to go on all during the war?" broke 
in another. 

"No," answered Tom with a grin, "only while we are here in 
barracks." 

"Agreed," said all. 

Then Douglas unfolded his plan and gave his directions: 



30 JOHNNY re;b and billy yank 

"To-night when you are marched to supper one of you slip into 
the kitchen and bribe the cook, — that black rascal would sell his 
soul for a dollar, — bribe him to send up to my room two or three 
large baskets, and mind the baskets must be filled with tin pans, 
kettles, bread trough, rolling pins and three or four old ragged 
coats, it doesn't make much difference about the pants; another 
of you hurry down the street before tattoo and buy two pounds 
of cork, and have everything ready at half-past seven." 

The drum beat the supper call. When the coast was clear Tom 
opened the window, which was on the second floor, and gave a 
shrill whistle ; the signal was answered by a like one, and in a few 
seconds a small specimen of humanity known as the "street Arab" 
appeared below. Tom wrote a few words on a piece of paper, 
directed it and threw it to the boy, with the injunction to fly. The 
boy disappeared in the gathering gloom. 

All were assembled in Tom's room, and in a few moments were 
as black and tan as any horse-opera troupe. A whistle was heard 
outside; it was Tom's Puck, who had girdled the city in less than 
forty minutes. Tom let down from the window a small line, which 
on being drawn up brought with it a large bag containing several 
suits of female attire of the roughest kind. Several of the party- 
goers soon got inside of them, and then the conspirators were 
ready for the denouement. 

''Keep your nerves steady, boys," whispered Tom; "don't over- 
act your part, and don't speak unless you are obliged to ! Now 
if you are ready, follow me down into the kitchen." 

Under instructions, one seized a fiddle and played, the rest of 
us commenced, as ordered, such an uproar that speedily the en- 
tire barracks were aroused; then Tom went to Captain Marye, 
with his coat off, his head bound up, and looking for all the world 
as if suffering from an attack of illness. 

"Captain," said he in a faltering voice, "I don't Hke to complain, 
but the truth is, I am sick, and it is impossible to stand that fuss 
any longer; do you hear that noise?" 

"Hear it," said the Captain, "it is enough to waken the dead; 
why, the house will be shaken down next! Who in the devil is 
kicking up all that rumpus?" 

"It's Mills and Hunter," said Tom solemnly. 

"That noise must be stopped anyhow," interrupted the Captain 
angrily. "Any old officer coming here would imagine he had 
made a mistake and gotten into a free and easy concert saloon! 



LIFE IN THE BARRACKS 3 1 

Listen to that !'' he continued, working himseh' into a passion, as 
howls and screams rose above the sound of the music. 

"Just listen to that ! I think my company is composed of the 
wildest set of rips in the world ! I would rather be the keeper of 
a menagerie or an under doctor in bedlam ! What in Heaven's 
name is the matter? Mills surely cannot be making all that 
noise !" 

"No," answered Tom sadly and unwillingly. "Don't tell the 
boys I told you. I wouldn't if I were not so very sick, but Mills 
and Hunter have those infernal fiddles of theirs and are scratching 
away for some niggers to dance." Here Tom put his hand touch- 
ingly to his head and his agony was for the time most intense. 
The Captain had turned white ; for a moment he was speechless, 
then came the tempest. 

"\Miat! WHAT!! Niggers in my barracks ! Niggers dancing! 
Niggers dancing in MY barracks ! ! ! ! What would Major Terrett 
say? Get a guard at once and turn the whole lot out into the 
street and tell those black, impudent rascals if I ever catch them 
here again I'll cut their ears close off, which I have a mind to do 
anyhow. Stay ! Tell those boys to send their fiddles home, they 
are a confounded nuisance anyway ! Turn those darkies out at 
once and allow me to thank you for your information, I will re- 
member it." 

Tom received these acknowledgements meekly — nay, modestly, 
and hurried off with alacrity, considering his previous illness, to 
get a guard. 

. The whole tribe were incontinently marched out at the point 
of the bayonet and set adrift, feeling very much like Aesop's old 
hare, who begged when caught to have any punishment rather 
than be turned out on a frosty morning. They shook hands all 
round ecstatically, and an hour after were keeping rhythmic time 
to a divine waltz with a diviner waltzer ; it was the last for many 
long days — many weary months. 

Why dwell on these trifles? Merely because they describe the 
little simple pleasures of barrack life, present the private in his 
best light, that of a careless, happy being (at least it seemed so 
afterwards), and marked the transition between the raw volunteer 
and the trained soldier. 

The temptation to linger tenderly over each bright, happy epi- 
sode of that time is only the greater since there were rapidly ap- 
proaching the days of gloom, of sickness, sorrow, blood-shed, and 
death. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PUBUC OPINION ON BOTH SIDES. 

It is with something Hke amusement that we look back upon 
the fallacies entertained at that time by both North and South. 

That an intelligent people should, at the commencement of this 
war, have permitted themselves to be so duped passes all belief. 
Southern editors characterized their foe as "Yankee riff-raff," 
"Hessians, whom in fair encounter we could conquer three to 
one." The good marksmen, the fine riders, the daring and dash 
were pre-eminently their own, so that if ever arrayed in solid 
phalanx, their troops so distinguished might laugh to scorn any- 
thing like failure. 

Many formed their opinions of the coming contest from the 
Mexican war, where Southern volunteers were largely in the ma- 
jority, and imagined that in military qualifications the Northern 
army could not in anywise be more advanced than that of Mexico. 
As Taylor and Scott invariably routed forces vastly superior in 
numbers, it was deduced that the South would be equally success- 
ful in any actual encounter. 

That the war would be of any duration never entered the mind 
of any one; some were pleased to extend the time to six months, 
but it was generally imagined that the first battle, then rapidly 
approaching, would end the conflict. Men, women and children 
were thoroughly sanguine of victory, while to doubt success was 
treason to the cause. A mental blindness pervaded the land. 

It is not surprising that the rank and file held such opinions, inas- 
much as press and public speakers instilled them in their minds. 

A prominent speaker, an ex-Governor of Virginia, in denounc- 
ing Helper's book on "The Impending Crisis," said that nothing 
could conquer his hatred and prejudice against New England. 

"Why!" continued he, becoming excited, "What is the reason 
of all these musterings, these warlike preparations? The South- 
ern army needs neither cannon nor rifle to beat back the hordes 
coming to desecrate this sacred soil. 

"No ! Give the Southern army but their slave whips, and they 
will send the Yankee hirelings flying back from whence they 
came." 

The press asserted that the Southern soldiery would prove ir- 



PUBLIC OPINION ON BOTH SIDES 33 

resistible ; and argued that if a Baltimore mob could put to flight 
trained troops from Massachusetts, our volunteers, thoroughly 
armed and equipped, might defy any force. "Have no fear," said 
a Richmond daily, ''Bob Toombs's prediction will yet prove true. 
Ere another year rolls round he can, if he chooses, call the roll of 
his slaves in Faneuil Hall." Hence, the volunteer, discussing in 
his barracks the future, expressed the honestly felt desire to meet 
the foe in combat ; a foe he had come to despise ; a foe he felt cer- 
tain would never stand long enough to look him in the face. 

Imaginative battles were rather of the "Iliad" order — a few 
rounds, then a rush of cold steel, and all was over. 

It was agreed that Company A should go into action with each 
man carrying a revolver in his belt and a bowie-knife in his boot- 
leg; it would look decidedly war-like and unique, we thought, to 
see the handle protruding from the leggins. The pistols were in- 
tended for close quarters, and when each chamber should have 
done its deadly work, the bowie, conveniently carried between the 
teeth, would be expected to step in and carve up the foe. 

Thus we sat in earnest conclave, day after day, fighting our 
coming battles. We mapped out our program to suit our untu- 
tored fancy. The most harmless fellow amongst us, who would 
have hesitated to kill a fly, talked by the hour of bayonet charges, 
until the blood in our veins ran cold. 

There was one little fellow, a private named Hunter, who grew 
meditative as the discussions waxed more thrilling, and spent 
many a sleepless night communing with himself. This bowie- 
knife business might be a very good thing, he thought, for im- 
mense fellows like Raymond Fairfax, or for one of those big Irish- 
men, but for a sixteen-year-old soldier of ninety-seven pounds 
fighting weight, it might not prove so very amusing after all. In 
a tight place, when cold steel was letting out blood, might it not 
be advisable, after having stood up to the fight like a man, to drop 
down on the ground for a little while and pretend to be dead? 
The big "Bowie-knife" would hardly stop to stab such a little 
corpse. A boy in battle, he continued to reason, could discharge 
firearms with the biggest, and do damage enough ; having this 
advantage besides, there would be so little of him to hit ; but as 
for an advance, — who would be hurt, the big blue? Not he! 
And making up his mind that until he had grown bigger, the 
question of cowardice would not be involved; and his anticipa- 
tions of the future assumed a brighter aspect. 
3 



34 JOHNNY RKB AND BII,I,Y YANK 

One morning Mills, a son of Clark Mills, the sculptor, and my- 
self determined to run the blockade to Washington City. We 
kept our intention a profound secret, as discovery would have 
resulted in confinement in the guard-room for merely entertaining 
such an idea. 

Across the Potomac extended a rickety structure known as the 
Long Bridge, guarded at either end by pickets, the one Southern 
and the other Northern. Travel across this thoroughfare had 
ceased and visiting Washington by this route was not to be 
thought of. 

The steamers that plied between the two cities had discontin- 
ued their trips; not only that, but a strict watch was kept up in 
Alexandria along the wharves, even sail and row boats having 
been interdicted. 

But where there's ^a will there's a way. We donned citizen's 
dress and went to a certain farm three or four miles above Alex- 
andria (of which I was the prospective owner), where a row boat 
was kept, and bribed the gardener, old Uncle Sandy, to row us 
to Washington, reaching there about noon. 

Then commenced our tour. How thick the blue-coats were ! 
How many officers there were in the city ! How elegant their 
uniforms ! 

A general passed, his epaulets, buttons and sword flashing in 
the sunshine, followed by a brilliant staff with orderlies in the rear. 
How many gaudily dressed women were on the avenue! What 
splendid bands ! What soul-inspiring music ! How martial 
looked the troops as they marched along the streets ! As we 
watched them we noted their soldierly appearance, their perfect 
step, their fine drill, and the illusions of the hour faded away and 
the thought that flashed through both our minds was, that it 
would take more than "one Rebel to whip three" of these Yan- 
kees, and Mills exclaimed : "Good Lord ! Let's hide !" 

W^e wended our way to Willard's Hotel; the lobby was filled 
with an excited crowd; in the bar-room the discussions were 
fiery. 

"I'll tell you, gentlemen," said an officer to a group around him, 
"that in two months from the word go we will march from the 
Potomac to the Rio Grande and drown the last d — n Rebel in the 
Gulf!" "Yes," said another, "we want a bloody war, and if I had 
my way I would raise the black flag and hang every Rebel caught 
with arms in his hands!" "How long will it be," inquired a citi- 



PUBLIC OPINION ON BOTH SIDi;S 35 

zen, "before the Long Bridge is crossed?" "In a few days at the 
furthest," responded an officer in zouave uniform. 

So the talk drifted on, and proved that they had no higher opin- 
ion of their foes than said foe had of them. 

We bought some Northern newspapers and found the same 
tone pervading- their columns ; the same contempt for the easy 
task laid out; the same appeals to the passions of the hour as that 
which marked the journals of the South ; they alluded to us sneer- 
ingly as "Chivalry;" called us "slave drivers and pampered min- 
ions ;" declared they wanted a sharp, sudden, bloody war ; en- 
dorsed Seward's prediction that "the rebellion would be put down 
within ninety days." In one paper was a speech made in Chicago 
by some public man, in which he said: "My fellow-citizens, I do 
not indorse President Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand 
men. He should have called on Illinois alone ; this is an Illinois 
war. Let the President recall his troops, and let this State fight 
the slave-holders' rebellion, and I'll stake my life and all that is 
dear to me that Illinois alone and unaided can conquer the South 
before the year is out.' 

If the South had run mad, the North was demented ; neither 
side considering the overwhelming proportions, the fearful, far- 
reaching consequences of the impending struggle. In such wise 
both parties boasted and raved before closing in deadly combat. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE EIRST RETREAT. 



April had passed ; May had come and gone and still the busy 
hum of war continued. Soldiering had ceased to be a novelty. 
Our volunteers were rapidly settling down to barracks lite and 
were becoming contented. As our muscles had grown stronger, 
fatigue was felt less ; besides, drilling was not looked upon with 
such disfavor, inasmuch as the nearer approach to perfection in 
manual the shorter became the drills. It was not long before 
Major Terrett had a battalion which even he or any other West 
Pointer might look upon with pride. 

Virginia was by this time practically out of the Union ; for the 
Confederate flag — "the Rebel rag," its enemies called it — waved 
over the public buildings. Jackson, the proprietor of the Mar- 
shall House, had published his own anti-Union sentiments by 
affixing over the roof of his hotel the insignia of rebellion. 
Against this he had been warned, as in case of an advance, his 
house being public, was endangered, involving perhaps the safety 
and property of his guests as well as that of his own. To all such 
counsel he turned a deaf ear, quietly remarking that as the house 
was his own he would defend it with his life, and that whoever 
should attempt to lower that flag would do so at their peril. 

His threat was made good, for it was at this spot that the first 
blood was spilled ; it was there that Ellsworth was shot and Jack- 
son also lost his life. 

The morning of the 23rd of May dawned upon our world. It 
was a bright, sunny day, with one of those languid noons that ren- 
dered it an enjoyment just to live, move and have our being. We 
had only had two drills, both hurried through, and then the men 
lounged and slept and the usually busy barracks were silent as the 
grave. 

Toward evening life began to stir throughout the building: the 
drummer, rubbing his eyes, seized his sticks and beat the rata- 
plan, the men reached out for their weapons, the officer girded 
his sword, and as in Tennyson's Enchanted Castle, the Prince 
kissed the sleeping princess and broke the spell. 

At six o'clock, dress parade. There in the softness of the even- 
ing lay the beautiful Potomac, its water gliding placidly by with- 



THE FIRST RETREAT 37 

out a murmur, its surface undisturbed by a ripple, reflecting in its 
beauty the golden sheen of the setting sun and the gorgeous col- 
oring of the sky ; all nature seemed at rest, lapsing into the deep 
serenity of night, but on the river floated an unsightly blur that 
marred the otherwise peaceful scene. It was the U. S. Sloop of 
War Pawnee, riding lazily at anchor not a hundred yards from 
the wharf; she had arrived that morning and taken position, amid 
much speculation and wonderment of the good people of the 
place. 

There she lay, dark and forbidding, revealing the grim muzzles 
of her twenty-four pounders. Suddenly in the twilight a gun was 
run out and immediately a long, bright flash poured out of the 
muzzle, succeeded by a thundering report that rattled windows in 
their casements and startled the town; an interval of a few sec- 
onds and the signal was answered from the Navy Yard at Wash- 
ington ; then the silence of night came on, and nothing further 
startled or jarred the gathering shadows. 

Nine o'clock, the tattoo beat and the barracks were in Cimmer- 
ian darkness. Sleep weighed down our eyelids, and only the 
guard's solemn tramp broke the quiet. Midnight came, and the 
cry of the sentry was "All's well." The town clock chimed "one," 
and still the city slept on; the streets, deserted by every living 
thing save perhaps some houseless dog, had sunk into a quiet as 
unbroken as that of the wilderness. 

Three o'clock, and yet no sound other than the measured 
strokes of the old town clock, albeit the faint light of coming day 
had begun to streak the east. 

Four o'clock. The quick, sharp beat of a horse's hoofs on the 
stones reverberated upon the air and its rider, at full gallop, 
dashed up to the barracks. It was Major Territt's courier. 

"Halt," said the guard. "Who comes there?" 

"A friend." 

"Give the countersign." 

"Oh, d — n the countersign! I come from Major Terrett, and 
must see Captain Marye at once." 

The Captain was awake in an instant. The commandant's dis- 
patch was short. 

"Wake the drummer, and beat the long roll," ordered the Cap- 
tain. Then came the rattling of the drum. 

As though by instinct the men were in line before they were 
fairly awake. In hurried tones the Captain told them that the 
town would shortly be in possession of Yankee infantry, who 



38 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

were even then in the suburbs, and he added, "I will give you ten 
minutes to get ready, not one second more. Pack your knap- 
sacks and have your accoutrements and be prepared to march 
when the order is given ; whoever is not ready will be left be- 
hind." 

Instantly everything was in confusion. 

At last a dim glare was thrown over the scene and rendered it 
visible as well as laughable. The men, all unused to night alarms, 
were panic-stricken, and huddled on the first clothes they could 
get their hands on ; rammed everything in their knapsacks, tak- 
ing what they would not want and of course leaving what they 
did, complaining bitterly of the very short time allowed. 

The idea of time is purely relative. Ten minutes with a dentist 
hacking away at a nerve is an age, ten minutes with one's sweet- 
heart on a moonlight night is simply nothing, but those ten min- 
utes ! — There, they were gone ! 

The drum beat, the clear tones of Captain Marye's voice rang 
out the order, "Fall in ; steady, men !" 

The sergeants distributed sixty rounds of cartridges to each 
man, a proceeding which sent the blood away from many a cheek, 
especially as the march of the enemy's troops began to be dis- 
tinctly heard, while at intervals the sound of cheering that came 
to our ears showed how rapidly the danger was approaching. 

Nearer and yet nearer ! We had often prayed to meet the 
enemy, but not so early in the morning, and certainly not with 
so little ceremony. We had thought, too, of marching out of 
town, but it was to have been in broad day, with banners flying 
and bayonets gleaming, the band playing "Dixie," while the entire 
population, hanging around, would wipe their weeping but admir- 
ing eyes. This hurrying away like a thief in the night had not 
much glory attached, but yet it was with infinite relief that we 
heard the next order: "By the right flank, by the left, march!" 
And not a minute too soon, for as we marched out of the town 
the enemy's column, by a parallel street, marched in. A collision 
seemed imminent, but the discipline of the company was here 
evinced. 

We marched as regularly as when on parade. One square, two 
squares were passed, when just in front was seen a body of in- 
fantry crossing a square farther on and at right angles to us, go- 
ing at double quick. It looked as if our first battle had really- 
begun. Then came the order, "Company! Shoulder arms! By 
the right into line ! Forward, march ! Right shoulder, shift arms ! 



THE FIRST RETREAT 39 

Double quick ; March !" And then we started to break and 
force our way out, A square farther on, and in the uncertain 
hght of dawning day we could see troops standing a hundred 
yards distant, but whether friend or foe could not be distin- 
guished. The company was halted and ordered to load, the line 
was dressed, and extending from sidewalk to sidewalk, we con- 
tinued on our way, expecting a volley to be poured into us every 
minute. Just at the final moment we discovered that we were 
mistaking friends for foes. It was Company H, who, in their turn, 
were laboring under the same delusion. It is needless to say that 
no blood was spilt that morning. 

In a brief space other companies came up, keeping on in a solid 
column to the railroad. All the infantry escaped, but the cavalry 
company of Captain Ball was captured to a man. 

The battalion was not halted until some three miles outside of 
town, where we boarded a long train of cattle cars. The whistle 
sounded slowly at first, then faster, and the cars started ; the crowd 
broke into that favorite song, "We'll be gay and happy still." 
Middle-aged and elderly citizens who heard the alarm rushed out 
and joined the singing throng. Had the advance of the enemy been 
delayed but a few hours, not an Alexandrian, from a budding 
youth to palsied age, would have remained. 

A moralist would have found much food for thought in that 
miscellaneous party. There were men of ripe wisdom and wide 
experience, long headed, cautious business men, who were leav- 
ing their ware-houses full of garnered goods, shop-keepers de- 
serting their stores which a life time of frugality had built, plant- 
ers abandoning their estates, and farmers with their granaries 
full, their barns stuffed, stables filled with blooded stock, and 
cattle grazing on the hills, and the simple negro slaves without 
a guide — and, worse than all, men left their families all unpro- 
tected. It was passing strange. 

It is a curious fact that when a community of men labor under 
an intense mental strain for a length of time, their reasoning 
faculties become numbed. 

These people (and Alexandria was but typical of the entire 
South) had talked of war, dreamed of war, and had simply be- 
come war mad. No domestic or business thoughts could find 
lodgment in their brain ; the cold, calm-eyed "Goddess of Reason" 
had fled from the land, and wild-eyed, shrieking "Ate" reigned 
supreme. There was no retrospection, no future, only the thrill- 
ing present. In those perilous times men's very natures were 



40 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

changed; when the stirring notes of "Dixie" or "Maryland, my 
Maryland," filled their ears, the softer strains of "Flome, Sweet 
Home," found no responsive chord. It was madness, it is true, 
but yet a transcendent madness, in which greed, envy and malice 
had no part, and so these elderly fellows, — deacons, vestrymen 
snd communicants, — sat in the crowded flats, and as their homes, 
their families, and their fortunes were left behind, they joined in 
the jubilant chorus, "We'll be gay and happy still." 

Take for instance the case of my own family. We lived on 
a splendid estate of 650 acres, lying on the Potomac, between 
Alexandria and Washington.* I doubt whether in the whole 
Southland there existed a finer country seat ; the house was 
built solidly, as if to defy time itself, with its beautiful trees, fine 
orchards, its terraced lawns, graveled walks leading to the river 
a quarter of a mile away; the spacious barns, the stables with 
fine horses (for which my father, a retired naval officer, had a 
special fondness), the servants' quarters, where dwelt the old 
family retainers and their offspring, some fifty or more. 

In addition to this stately place, my father owned a second 



Between Washington and Alexandria, on the banks of the Potomac, is one of 
the oldest and finest estates in Virginia. It was the family seat of the Alexan- 
ders and Hunters, and has been in the family for nearly three centuries. The 
family is descended from the powerful clan of MacDonald of Scotland, from Al- 
exander, son of John, Lord of the Isles, by Lady Margaret his wife, who was the 
daughter of Robert the second King of Scotland. John IV, son of the Earl of 
Sterling, emigrated to Virginia in 1659 and had all the land from Georgetown to 
Hunting Creek, by letters patent. When he died in 1677 his will bequeathed to 
his son John all the land from Four Mile Run to Hunting Creek, so that the his- 
toric home referred to became the home of the Alexanders. The mansion is 
still standing and is most solidly constructed. The beams and rafters are of 
solid oak, two feet in diameter, and strong enough, as was proven, to bear the 
weight of two centuries. 

Descendant after descendant inherited the estate, until it, together with Arling- 
ton, fell into the hands of Girard Alexander. Girard sold Abingdon to General 
George Washington, who bought it for his step-son, John Parke Custis. Here 
he and his wife lived several years, and his four children were born at this home, 
except G. W. Parke Custis, who was born at Mount Airy. 

Abingdon passed away from the Custis family; it had been paid for in Con- 
tinental money by General Washington and the heirs of Girard Alexander brought 
suit to recover the money. After many years of tedious litigation the sale was 
set aside and Abingdon passed once more to the Alexanders. 

It was sold to one of the Wises, who kept it for some time, and resold it to 
General Alexander Hunter, a member of the original family. General Hunter 
was a famous soldier in the British invasion when General Ross burned the 
Capitol in Washington; and he was Marshal of the District for twenty years. 
He willed Abingdon to his nephew, Alexander Hunter; but before his majority 
AbiiTgdon was confiscated in 1864, while he was in the Black Horse Cavalry, in 
the Confederate Army. (Lockwood's Historic Homes of Washington, page 202.) 



the: First retreat 41 

plantation called Brookdale, but a few miles away, and adjoin- 
ing Arlington, General Lee's estate. 

It was the custom of our family to spend the summer months 
at Brookdale, so as to escape the ague and fever that attacked 
every one who lived on the banks of the Potomac. In April 
my father removed his family to the city of Alexandria and 
abandoned these two places, with all of their goods, chattels, ser- 
vants, stock, — in fact everything except the clothes we wore, not 
even employing a care-taker, for overseer we had none. 

The land was there after the war, but that was all. 

In the National Capital my father owned a fine mansion of 
forty rooms, and spacious grounds, corner of C and Third Streets, 
N. W., besides a dozen or so of smaller houses, and many lots. 

]\Ir. Lincoln sent him word that he would not be called upon 
to draw his sword against his native State, and asked him to let 
his name remain on the retired list, pledging him that all of his 
property would be strictly guarded. My father refused the Pres- 
ident's courteous request, and infected by the rabid contagion 
that swept through the South, lost all reason, and he left all his 
great business interests to go to the dogs, without one precau- 
tion whereby he might protect his rights. 



CHAPTER VI. 

BREAKING IN THE VOLUNTEERS. 

The cars stopped at Manassas, a station on the Orange & Alex- 
andria Railroad, a small, insignificant-looking- place, but destined 
before long to become a household word in America. The 
landscape was either a dead level or gently rolling and heavily 
v/ooded. 

The battalion on its arrival found everything in a disorgan- 
ized state, and only a few independent companies. The First 
vSouth Carolina Regiment was in camp. Our coming, however, 
was altogether unlooked for, and Governor Letcher, having made 
no provisions for our nine hundred men, we found ourselves in 
that lone spot without rations, cooking utensils, tents, or any of 
the necessities of a soldier's Hfe, simple as they were. Possibly 
at this period the Confederate Commissariat had not been or- 
ganized. We went immediately into bivouac, which consisted 
in laying down our knapsacks and taking off our accoutrements ; 
that done, we looked into each other's faces and wanted some- 
thing to eat; but wanting was one thing and getting was an- 
other. 

For a while all discipline was relaxed; some favored of fortune 
at once engaged board at a small tavern, while others, with 
never a cent in their pockets, prowled like lost dogs around the 
camp of the Carolinians, thankful for a bone or a crust. For 
three days some of us were literally on the verge of starvation. 

There were no drills now; only roll call in the morning and 
evening. We slept under the trees in our blankets, those who 
could sleep, for if the barrack mattresses were hard, the ground 
was still harder. 

Money was tight in the market in those days — a very Roths- 
child in the ranks could not have borrowed a dollar, and those 
who were too proud to beg nearly starved. 

In my diary are these entries : 

"First day, 25th May. Tried to sleep but could not: the 
ground hurt my body. Am so hungry !" 

"May 26th. A soldier gave me a cracker and a piece of cheese. 
Hung around the camp of the South Carolinians, but nobody 
asked me to have anything. If this is war I won't last long. 



BREAKING IN THE; VOI^UNTEERS 43 

Slept a little better last night, but dreamed all the while of eat- 
ing; waked up every now and then and rubbed my stomach to 
ease the pain. So hungry !" 

"May 27th. All day not a morsel has passed my lips. Spent 
most of the day in the woods, almost crying with hunger. I 
can't beg — nobody ever offers me anything — am starving. I 
have dreadful pains in my back and stomach. This evening as 
I wandered in the fields, wondering what I must do, I saw a dog 
go by; a lean, starved cur, the meanest, dirtiest, ugliest, boniest. 
bow-legged creature imaginable ; shot at him and missed ; put 
out after him. 'Old dog,' said I, 'you will make a first-rate stew. 
even if the sun does shine through your ribs, and I'll have you 
if I can get you.' Ran my best, and the dog, who loved life as 
well as I did, ran his best; nearly reached him once where two 
snake fences met, but he squeezed through just as I jabbed at 
him with my bayonet; ran him about a mile farther, but my 
breath gave out, gave up the chase; last I saw of him was a 
yellow streak disappearing over the hill. Lost my dinner." 

In retrospection one cannot help pitying the innocence and 
ignorance of men starving in the midst of plenty. A hundred 
vards or more away there were farm houses where it would have 
been only necessary to ask to receive. The Rebel soldier was, in the 
eyes of the people, one for whom too many sacrifices could not 
be made, and it was with pleasure and willingness that they ad- 
ministered to his wants. To the soldier of the Army of North- 
ern Virginia every house was home and he soon learned the fact, 
but in the first year of the war he had not acquired the art of 
foraging and was content to cook his camp rations without the 
aid of farm produce or the delicacies of the good wife's dairy 
and store-room. Later on he felt no hesitancy in asking, believ- 
ing that as he bore the hardships and did the fighting, it was 
the duty of the citizens to provide the food and keep him from 
starvation ; all were in the same boat, doomed to sink or swim 
together. 

As people waxed poorer and provisions scarcer it became 
impossible to supply the wants of each soldier as they would 
be made known to every farm house in the vicinity of the camp, 
and hundreds would be turned away, not unkindly but of neces- 
sity. A lady once counted such applications at her door in one 
day, and they numbered over two hundred, and these did not 
include the many with whom she had hospitably shared her own 
frugal meal. Fortunatelv the armv was not stationarv, and such 



44 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvI,Y YANK 

extraordinary deinands were not of long duration ; but it is only 
just to bear grateful testimony to the unselfish devotion, the 
ready generosity of the people whose fair fields were made a 
battle-ground for four weary years ; so long as they had anything 
to give, they gave cheerfully; the burdens laid upon them were 
borne uncomplainingly, their self-sacrifice was heroic. 

Some soldiers felt great repugnance toward going up to a 
stranger's door and making a plain request, but they were strong 
on hints. The Georgians, the best foragers in the army, were 
of this ilk. A group of them would halt at the gate and choose 
the thinnest, saddest-faced, hungriest-looking one of their lot ; 
he would meekly knock at the back door, wait until his errand 
was asked, and then humbly: "Please, Mam, give me a drink 
of water. I hain't had a single bite for the last three days, and 
hain't slept on a bed for a week." 

Johnny Reb's eloquence, especially when he was hungry, gen- 
erally prevailed and obtained him all he wanted. 

Happily our commissary embarrassments were but temporary, 
and supplies began to arrive from Richmond. The season of want 
was over for a time at least, and as if to make amends for our 
fasting, the finest kind of rations in the greatest profusion were 
used; not only this, but large plank barracks were erected for 
our company, of which we took quiet possession. 

Then hard life commenced, so we thought. We missed our 
noble women, their acts of kindness, their words of cheer ; and 
remembering our grumbling in the old home town, would gladly 
have returned to take up the thread of existence there just where 
it had broken off. But as Goethe says, "We never float again 
on the same stream." 

The company was divided into three or four different messes, 
each mess having two cooks, chosen by regular rotation, turn 
and turn about. The cooking at first was simply awful ; not one 
of the detailed chef de cuisines could tell the difference between 
a frying-pan and a skillet, hence the horrible stuff they were wont 
to serve would have given dyspepsia to an ostrich ; but slowly 
yet surely these amateurs learned the art, becoming so thorough- 
ly competent that they could make a palatable stew or fricassee 
out of a lot of old bones and a handful of flour. 

Aft'airs by this time had begun to assume a warlike turn; 
train after train crowded with soldiers was arriving every day. 
The troops hailed from every Southern State, proving that Man- 
assas was considered a point of great strategic importance ; the 



BREAKING IN THE VOLUNTEERS 45 

hitherto quiet station now resembled a fortified camp. General 
Bonham, of South Carolina, was post commandant. He was very 
lenient with the men, rarely refusing them any request, and 
consequently a great favorite ; his ofltice was alike open to the 
private and the staff and he affected no style whatever. 

About the first of June, 1861, General Beauregard arrived 
and assumed command of the post; then a decided change took 
place. Our cool, roomy, comfortable barracks were exchanged 
for tents, which as every veteran knows, on a warm summer day 
are about two degrees less hot than a Dutch oven; and we had 
four drills a day in the hot sun. A change indeed ! As David 
Garrick once said on going from London to Cheltenham, "It was 
like stepping from Elysium into Hell." At night sleep was pos- 
sible, but in the day, with the fierce fervid rays of the orb of day 
beating down upon us, intensified by the white glare of the cot- 
ton sheeting, the heat became almost unbearable. The tents 
proved also first-rate breeding places for flies, which almost 
amounted to a plague. 

The different companies were formed, ten of them into a reg- 
iment; the crack Rifles losing their proud individuality and 
sinking into plain "Company A, Seventeenth Regiment, Vir- 
ginia Volunteers." This regiment was placed in a brigade, 
which it completed, and was known as the "First Brigade of the 
Army of Northern Virginia," commanded by General Longstreet. 
The brigade was composed of Virginians ; the First from Rich- 
mond, the Seventh from Piedmont section, the Eleventh was 
from Lynchburg. 

The regiment was ordered to leave its pleasant quarters in 
the Avoods and camp with the rest of the brigade in a vast field, 
without so much as a huckleberry bush on its surface ; then we 
had to give up our large tents and take miserable little "bell- 
tents" with four men in each ; they were so short that when 
a long-legged man stretched out at length he found his feet 
outside. 

On bright days we would take refuge in the woods and lie 
around in the shade ; but behold us in a long, wet, rainy spell ; 
a fine spray showers down upon the inmates, the breathing of 
four people in a contracted space fills the interior with a dense 
fog; everybody is steaming, and the only simile is a kitchen 
on washing day; the one is about as pleasant and comfortable 
as the other. 

General Beauregard had reduced everything to a "system." 



46 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK 

We rose at dawn, answered roll call, ate our meals by the tap of 
the drum, drilled, went for water, retired to rest and fell asleep 
by the same rolling notes. 

O ye innocent sheep ! Ye fleeced and slaughtered. Meekness 
personified ! Why did not nature give you a thicker skin or none 
at all? Why of all animals in the world was your blameless 
hide chosen to be beaten, thumped and rolled, to the discomfort and 
unhappiness of man? Surely your meekness is revenged on the 
human race for all your wrongs! 

One grievance more. A failure to be present at drill, and we 
booked ourselves for police duty — an innovation with a ven- 
geance, for "police duty" was but a polite name for the work of 
the man we call "scavenger" in the city. 

Every morning squads detailed for that purpose, armed with 
brushes, brooms and shovels, roamed all over camp, cleaning 
and clearing up generally ; the men considering it degrading, dis- 
liked this duty more than any other, and many were placed in 
the guard-house for refusing to work in such capacity. 

The regimental camp was surrounded by a perfect cordon of 
guards, who were instructed to allow no one to pass save field 
officers ; neither the officers under that grade, much less the rank 
and file, could leave camp without a written pass signed by his 
own regimental officer and countersigned by the general com- 
manding, hence we were as strictly guarded as prisoners of war. 

But there was no suffering for want of exercise on account of 
these circumscribed limits; eight hours were spent in drilling 
on a large level plain in a double-quick running through the 
different evolutions, until every one of us felt like lying down 
and giving up the ghost. 

Woe to weak legs! For like the wicked, they had no peace; 
neither were the hands allowed to fold themselves at rest. What 
with cooking, police duty, and digging entrenchments, the sol- 
diers soon found that Beauregard, and not the Devil, had work 
enough for idle hands to do; he piled "Pelion upon Ossa, and 
Ossa upon Pelion," in the shape of labor; from penitentiary con- 
victs farmed out under the contract system, more could not have 
been exacted. He had details — a certain number chosen from 
each company — chosen to erect breastworks and elaborate forti- 
fications after Vauban, They were marched to the designated 
spot, picks and spades placed in their hands, and the order given 
to fall to. 

It was ever an incongruous assembly of workmen. Pat was in 



BREAKING IN THE VOLUNTEB^RS 47 

his element, holding between his teeth a pipe of that curtailed 
description which all Irishmen love, and making the dirt fly as 
he plied his pick with the measured strokes of a machine. This 
muscular, brawny son of Erin seemed never to know the mean- 
ing of fatigue, but for the delicate man at his side, with soft 
muscles and weak sinews all unused to manual labor, and ex- 
posed to the sun, it was too hard a task ; sooner or later he would 
break down and be sent under guard back to his regiment. 

Those poor, proud fellows!' Manfully enough would they 
strive to accompHsh the allotted task, too great for their strength, 
and labor desperately on in the morning glare of the sun, con- 
tracting, all unknowingly, those deadly typhus germs, and dig- 
ging but too often their own graves. 

Our life during the month of June was destitute of any incident 
of note or excitement. It was the daily round of the galley 
slave ; the same systematic duties day after day. Of course the 
fatigue and monotony of camp life superadded to the constant 
exposure to the sun caused much sickness ; besides this, the 
water around Manassas was hardly drinkable, being almost stag- 
nant. 

As the summer advanced sickness broke out among the 
troops, and destitute of the proper medical attendance, the mor- 
tality became frightful; the wailing tones of the "Dead March" 
sounded in our ears and almost every hour could be seen bodies 
of troops marching with reversed arms, followed in a short 
while by the volley fired over their dead comrade ; it began to 
have a very depressing effect on the army. 

The commander-in-chief became alarmed at the condition of 
affairs. The mortality was increasing so rapidly that energetic 
steps were taken; huge water tanks were constructed on flat 
cars which were filled with pure water from the Blue Ridge 
mountains, brought down to the junction and distributed among 
the soldiers. 

When the whistle of the engine sounded, the cry of "the water 
cars are coming !" was on every lip and thousands of men could 
be seen racing to the depot, carrying in their hands every imag- 
inable kind of utensil, canteens, coffee pots, buckets, tin-pails, 
kettles and anything that would hold water. The scene at the 
tank baffled description — a confused mass of men struggling, 
each trying to fill his bucket first, the guards trying to preserve 
order, the whole resembling pandemonium by sunlight rather 
than anything else, and not until the last drop of that heaven- 



48 JOHNNY RE;B and BII.I.Y YANK 

sent, life-giving fluid, fresh from the cool, pure mountain stream, 
had been scooped up did the place resume its quiet. 

About the middle of July, drills in the heat of the day were 
discontinued, but notwithstanding these sanitary measures the 
hospitals continued to be crowded to excess and the death-roll 
in the army, especially among the troops from the far South, 
was startling. The Eighth Louisiana regiment lost by typhus 
fevers, dysentery, scurvy and measles the awful number of two- 
hundred men out of a total force of nine hundred strong; nearly 
one-fourth, or two for every nine. 

Those troops from the extreme South suffered far more from 
the heat, strange as it may appear, than either Virginians or 
North Carolinians, and succumbed more quickly to disease when 
once attacked. 

The days passed slowly, as they must always do for the weary 
watcher of the night, the captive in his dungeon and for the 
tired soldier, who, fettered by an iron system, could only sigh for 
change and stirring action instead of wearisome, dull routine. 

June had gone and July was on the wane before anything oc- 
curred, when one sweet morning, the seventeenth of July, 1861; 
the long roll sounded and our camp life was broken. 



CHAPTER VII. 

BULL RUN. 

The beating of the long roll ! 

Did you ever saunter down the quiet streets of a city on a windy 
night when the rattling of a passing vehicle was almost drowned 
in the whistling of a norther, a night when one loves to bask in 
the cheering warmth of a glowing fire and a large arm-chair, a 
night when none were abroad unless tempted out by anticipated 
pleasure or pressing business, and when hurrying along the 
deserted thoroughfare, have you ever heard the sudden clang of 
fire-bells, — "the Iron Bells," Poe calls them, — heard the answering 
cry from scores of throats that dread shout of "Fire !" that, echo- 
ing fast from square to square, brings the lover from his mistress, 
the artisan from his sleep, the printer from his task, — all to mingle 
in a common throng and fill the hitherto quiet street with an eager, 
hurrying crowd ? 

If you have, you can form some idea of the effect of "long roll" 
beaten on a quiet summer day. 

Where there had heretofore been an apparently deserted camp, 
with but a cordon of sentinels around, now swarmed thousands of 
excited, hurrying soldiers. The fire-bell in the city is the alarm 
drum of the camp. 

The of^cers had but httle trouble in preparing for a move, ser- 
vants attending to their traps and a headquarters wagon carrying 
them, so they generally bustled around and hurried up the pri- 
vates. "Fall in, men! Fall in!" 

What a time those same privates had trying to make a knap- 
sack answer the purpose of a wheelbarrow ! 

By the way, those small trunks, peculiarly the soldier's own, 
hold about as much as one can stuf¥ in the bandana handkerchief 
such as the emigrant bears hanging onto his stick when he lands 
at Castle Garden. 

It is always the fault of new soldiers to load themselves down 
with extra baggage ; give the veteran his blanket, a full cartridge 
box, a full haversack, and he is content; as for perfumed soap, 
books, extra suits, bowie-knives, revolvers, &c., when it became 
a matter of transporting them on his back, such vanities lost all 
attractions and were relegated to his "salad days." 
4 



50 JOHNNY RHB AND BIIyl^Y YANK 

The Army Regulations wisely abstained from prescribing the 
number of pounds each man should carry, knowing that before 
long, experience would teach them wisdom; in the meantime, if 
any soldier chose to make a pack-horse of himself, the command- 
ing general made no objection. 

In about an hour the regiment stood in marching order and 
sixty rounds of ammunition were distributed to each man; then 
the word ''Forward !" was given, and we turned our faces north- 
ward. 

One could scarcely recognize that dashing regiment, springing 
along with elastic steps, as the dull, jaded-looking men who a few 
hours ago were undergoing, with enforced resignation, the daily 
drill. 

Barrack life may suit regular troops inured to such existence, 
and who look for no change throughout the year, but volunteers 
are of different mold; keep them unemployed or in camp, cook- 
ing, cleaning, drilling, and it breaks their spirits, deadens their 
ambition, they droop, pine and lose vitality; give them action, stir- 
ring action, and you may starve them, overmarch them, over- 
work them, and they will rise to the emergency and come out of 
the ordeal stronger than before ; no matter if in rags, shoeless, 
hatless, hungry, let them be ever on the go, and they will, without 
grumbling, be always willing to advance anywhere, even through 
cold, sleet or rain, shivering all night beneath their blankets, keep- 
ing solitary vigils on picket-posts, trotting along in the forced 
march — they will sit at night beside their fires and be content ; they 
will cheerfully advance anyzvherc, only let there be constant 
change, constant excitement, for Johnny Reb, like "Little Joe" 
in "Bleak House," must be kept "moving on." 

The march to Bull Run, a small river near Manassas, was 
under a blazing sun, but there was no straggling. As yet no one 
knew their destination. As we looked back and saw the long 
line of infantry stretching out as far as the eye could reach, it 
became clear to even the most unobserving that some great mili- 
tary movement was taking place, but beyond this everything was 
conjecture. 

Our rapid marching soon brought us to the creek called Bull 
Run, and the regiment was placed right along its edge, directly 
opposite Blackburn's Ford, and there halted ; guns were stacked, 
ranks broken, and then, as it was late in the evening, the men 
were soon busy preparing their frugal supper. 

Around the various camp-fires groups were gathered, frying 



BUIvIy RUN 51 

meat and boiling coffee, while the laughter on their lips and the 
light in their eyes showed what little thought they were giving 
to the morrow. 

That night, for the first time, the men were compelled to sleep 
on the ground without blankets, the wagons from some cause 
having failed to appear; it was no hardship though, for it was a 
\Aarm, sultry night, and the soldiers, breaking off the branches of 
the trees, made a fragrant, soft couch of leaves, and lying down 
with their clothes on and their arms beside them, were soon lost in 
slumber; nothing stirred except the phantom-like pickets, who 
slowly paced in and out among the shadows of the trees; a whip- 
poorwill sounded from out of the deptiis of the v/oods his sad, 
plaintive notes, and an occasional frog from a neighboring marsh 
prolonged his dismal croak — all else was silent; the camp-fires 
glimmered here and there before dying out; the prostrate forms 
were motionless in their sleep. 

The night before a battle! the first battle of a long, disastrous 
war ! What a scene for a painter ! What a theme for all who 
choose to think upon it! By the side of the narrow stream, with 
its silvery waters, pure as yet as the clouds from which they came, 
and under heaven's own dome, "studded with a golden fire," lay 
thousands of one country, met there for murderous work ; harm- 
less, voiceless, mute as the stars above them were the men who 
wore the gray. "Sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care" was 
softening each bronzed face and making it tender, perhaps with 
some gentle dream of home or with some memory of mother, 
wife or child, for those who could not sleep. 

The deep, fierce passions that in a few hours would let loose the 
dogs of war, were all as stilled as the lead waiting to stop the 
beating of some foeman's heart, waiting to do its after-work ; for 
the bullet — the shell that tears its way into a soldier's form — is 
sure to glance aside to rend the hearts that love him, and not till 
then is its ghastly mission done. Imagination falters awe- 
stricken at the scene that the constellations watch in their next 
vigil; the blood! the wounds! the agony! the dead! God! was 
there no angel to stay the uplifted sword, as Abraliam's hand was 
stayed ; for all the prayers that went up that night from the whole 
wide land for those sleeping armies, could not one mighty hand 
have interposed? 

The early dawn of day found the regiment lying dressed — 
"dressed" in camp parlance. Toilets that morning, so far from 



52 JOHNNY RE;B AND BIL,I,Y YANK 

being elaborate, consisted of a soldier's dry wash, which meant 
rubbing the face on a jacket sleeve. 

Our breakfast likewise was no studied affair ; a cracker or two, 
a slice of uncooked pork washed down by a mouthful of "Bull 
Run" water, was all ; but we were too well satisfied to get that, for 
in view of the day's work before us there was no disposition to be 
fastidious. 

The rays of the rising sun that bright Thursday morning, the 
1 8th of July, fell in checkered beams upon the ranks of gray infan- 
try that lay along the banks of the stream in line of battle. On 
the side banks where our position was held were flat, low-lands; 
a heavy fringe of trees ran along on the enemy's side, the banks 
rising abruptly and forming a high bluff. We did not know 
enough of military affairs to be aware of our untenable position, 
the enemy above us being masked by a dense thicket ; but a kind of 
dawning intelligence broke upon us that we were in a trap if the 
enemy should choose to attack us. 

The Seventeenth rested along the south bank of Bull Run, 
directly at Blackburn's Ford, and on the extreme right of the Con- 
federate line of battle ; our left reaching several miles away and 
covering the stone bridge at Sudley's Ford, where the Warrenton 
and Alexandria turnpike intersected. 

General Longstreet kept with us at the ford, sitting at ease on 
his horse, chatting gaily with the officers and men and waiting to 
hear an advance of the enemy from his scouts or to receive orders 
from General Beauregard. The commanding general expected 
Blackburn's Ford to be the battle-field, and the information went 
from man to man that the left wing would bear the brunt of the 
day's fighting. 

Our men in long line lying flat upon the ground were doubtless 
wishing themselves moles so that they could burrow down out of 
harm's way. It was our first battle, our first waiting; always a 
dread ordeal for raw soldiers. 

As we crouched together in a long, serried front, our hands 
nervously toying with the hammers of our muskets, each one felt 
that his final departure was near at hand and busily repented him 
of his sins. Some were silently praying, others were reading 
their Bibles, all were serious. 

The soldier's first battle-field is marked by a variety of sensa- 
tions ; trembling fear, curiosity, and an insane desire to get up and 
leave, a half-feeling of awe, a strange nervousness, doubt as to 
his fate, all mingle together, making his heart beat fast and his 



BULIv RUN 53 

pulse thrill with nameless horror; his breathing becomes thick and 
his face deadly pale ; no matter what may be the temperament of 
the man, the first battle causes him more agony of mind than all 
other conflicts combined. Henry the Fifth said: "Every soldier 
in the war should do as does every sick man in his bed, wash every 
mote out of his conscience." Such was the universal endeavor 
that morning; the sins of a misspent youth never weighed^so 
heavily as when the repenting soldier, all eyes, watched the dark 
woods on the other side. 

Some time after, in speaking of that day's experience, one man 
declared that he repeated the Lord's prayer over and over about 
seventy-five times, having in his head the idea that the oftener he 
said the prayer the better he would become, and the less chance 
there would be of the Devil getting him in case a Yankee bullet 
should knock him cold. He would begin slowly, he said, and with 
much fervor, but always ended rapidly; then, commencing over 
again, would rattle through at a tremendous rate and dove-tail 
"Our Father" with "Amen." He threw away a pack of cards and 
made an oath never again to utter a profane word so long as he 
might be allowed to live ; vowed that if by chance he should come 
out of the battle safe and sound he would be a moral, as well as a 
model, warrior; determined to crush down his hasty temper, and 
carry all the canteens to the spring; to give the first sop of the 
skillet to his surviving comrades ; to do his share thereafter of 
police duty without so much as a grumble ; to black the captain's 
boots if he should order it, in a meek and lowly spirit ; resolved to 
imitate the noble Christian soldier of the Crimean war — the brave 
Havelock — and follow faithfully in his footsteps; forgave all his 
enemies — no ! when he came to think of it, all except that scoun- 
drel who stole his canteen the fight before, and about whom he 
made a mental reservation ; thought he would go to church and 
give up his pipe, and if he got through safely would become a 
minister and preach the gospel. I know all this too well, for I was 
that guileless, innocent youth. So the morning dragged by, with 
the men stretched out at length, watching, hoping, praying, 
resolving, fearing. 

The sun, tired of playing hide-and-seek behind the trees, boldly 
rose above their tops and gazed glaringly and steadily down. It 
was now late in the morning, and fortunately, as men's nerves 
cannot always be kept at full tension, strained expectancy gave 
way to listless ease; gradually the color came back to our faces, 
and measured beats to our hearts, while many began to amuse 



54 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvI^Y YANK 

themselves, some reading, some writing, while others, that fair 
Thursday morning — to their blushes be it spoken — started a 
game of cards. Among the latter was the young man whose 
penitence and vows at dawn of day had been so lively. Then 
light, but subdued laughter, was heard, and the line began to 
ripple with fun. 

''Who's afraid ! The Yankees have backed out," said one. 

"Never thought they would come to the scratch anyway," said 
another. Then up spoke an old veteran of the Florida war, 
"Boys, you are damn fools ; you will get your fill of fighting, with 
plenty over to spare. You won't have to wait long either." 

Prophetic words ! Wise old Cassandra in breeches ! 

Eleven o'clock by somebody's old silver watch ! Whew ! How 
hot it was ! We strained our ears, but not a sound. It was so 
warm that we wished we could take to the water like frogs, or 
better still, change into tadpoles. One man went so far as to 
wish that he were a woman; another a baby, "and a gal babv at 
that !" 

Noon, high noon ; and a white ball of fire overhead. The car- 
tridge-boxes that in the morning had been slipped around in front, 
with the cover buttoned up, ready for immediate use, were now 
unfastened and laid on the grass. Jackets were cast aside, and 
the line, so well dressed before, was now about as straight as a 
corkscrew. The men scattered about in the shade of the trees, 
lounged and kicked their heels in the air. Scouts were just 
returning from a hasty and frightened reconnaissance, reporting 
everything quiet. Consequently, even the most timid felt satis- 
fied there would be no fighting done that day — except with the 
flies, which had become so devotedly and persistently attached to 
us that they followed us in swarms. 

One o'clock. Half of the men were fast asleep and the other 
half were dozing. The lookouts were no longer lookouts. 
Standing, or rather, lazily leaning, against their muskets, with 
thoughts far away, they heard but the droning of the beetles and 
the drowsy hum of the blue-bottle fly, while the faint cawing of 
the vagrant crow, as he winged his flight high up in the air, came 
dreamily to their ears. Across the stream there was nothing like 
life to be seen save, indeed, an old patient king-fisher that rested 
on a high limb, rolling his goggle eyes and nodding his head at 
the strange people below. 

How many boys we noticed lying under the shade of the trees ! 
— boys in their teens. Glancing hastily around at the recumbent 



BULL RUN 55 

forms, one would imagine them more in place in the school-room 
or college grounds, playing foot-ball, knuckle-down or bandy, 
rather than waiting there to be made food for powder. 

A little past one o'clock, then with a sudden, frightful distinct- 
ness two guns went off less than twenty yards from us. Our 
two volunteer pickets, Colonel Terry, of Texas, and another, 
splashed across the ford to our side. Instantly every man was 
on his feet, gun in hand. "Fall in, men; fall in! Right dress!" 
came in quick succession from the colonel, and in a few seconds 
the Hne was formed and dressed. Now burst on our untried ears 
a rattling, stunning volley of musketry. Beginning down the 
stream some hundreds of yards and rolling toward us, the iron 
hail approached and hustled in our midst. The volley caused an 
icy shiver amongst us. The screaming hiss of the Minie-ball was 
frightful enough of itself to make the heart stand still, but the 
thud of the stroke against the body of some comrade, the sight of 
falling men, wounded and killed, was more terrible than any words 
can describe; it froze the blood in our veins. 

How we wanted to run ! Many a man of us could have dis- 
counted the fabled winged INIercury in a fair-field race. 

Gracious Lord ! They were shooting at us with artillery ! 
Whir ! Whir ! Sh !— sh !— sh !— bang ! ! bang ! ! Too high ! The 
shells cut the top branches of the trees and they fell showering 
down upon us. 

It was useless to attempt any order now, for every man imag- 
ined he was about to be killed. The volley from the muskets had 
frightened us, but the bursting of those infernal shells was demor- 
alizing. Every one acted for himself, and as the majority, by a 
process of rapid reasoning, concluded that ^--ce farther they were 
away from the enemy the safer they would be, they gradually, of 
their own free will and fleetness, lengthened the distance between 
the foe and themselves. 

Every time a bullet whizzed near a man he would wince. Some 
would half drop down, and some very nervous fellow would give 
a howl as if he was actually struck. 

"There's more honor in a long shot," cries poor Bob Acres, 
when brought face to face with Captain Jack Absolute on the 
field; "there's more honor in a long shot! Sir Lucius, if you love 
me, let me take a long shot !" Some of our men were equally as 
desirous of long shots — miles long. Discretion was evidently the 
better part of valor. 

But others stood their ground, firing back at an unseen foe, 



56 JOHNNY re;b and bii,i,y yank 

never flinching; others again, who had at first retreated, shamed 
by such brave example, raUied and advanced, until the flower of 
the Seventeenth stood game in their tracks and searched the 
woods on the other side with their leaden messengers. 

The firing across the banks at pistol range increased in intens- 
ity and violence. It was no longer a rattling volley rolling along 
the banks of the stream, but a continuous sound like the crackling 
noise of a forest on fire. For a second it would lessen, and the 
sound of the martial hurrah, mingling with the bursting of the 
shells, could be heard ; but again would the firing swell into a 
steady volume, as thousands of muskets were discharged. 

The enemy had every advantage; they had a lofty bluff; we, an 
even plain. They had a dense cover to mask and protect them; 
we, on the contrary, stood on the bare sward, targets for every 
marksman. And yet the situation beautifully illustrated one of 
Tomini's pet axioms on the art of war : "A fire up a declivity," 
he says, "is necessarily more close and fatal than one deHvered 
down hill, for in shooting down hill the volleys are always too 
high ; in firing up hill, on the contrary, the aim is almost certain to 
be low rather than high, and, of course, more deadly." 

Had the fire of the enemy been lower, victory would have 
been theirs. As it was, the vast majority of the missiles struck 
amid the tree tops, and played havoc with the monarchs of the 
forest a hundred yards or so in our rear, sparing in a great meas- 
ure flesh and blood, and familiarizing soldiers with the sound. 
This could not last, for secure in their covert, the enemy made the 
bank rutilant with rays of luminous fire, and each moment cor- 
rected their aim "^ diets now struck the solid tree trunks with a 
dull thud, Ins aT^' whistling through the leaves of the top 
branches, and many i.id their billets that day. Men began to 
fall. Our front line, fighting without order, was borne back to 
the edge of the trees a hundred yards distant from the run, and it 
seemed as if defeat were inevitable. 

Many of the rank were running in every direction, the officers 
trying in vain to form them in line. Half a dozen would obey the 
commands, but when the shrill whing of the bullet was heard or 
the dull zip of the missile as it buried itself in a tree trunk, and the 
fearful noise of the whizzing shrapnel, each man would break for 
shelter. The measured hurrahs of the enemy were not sounds, 
either, that were calculated to calm the line that kept up the fight. 
Captain Pressman fell, wounded in efforts to steady his men. 
Captain Dulaney dropped ; Lieutenant Jarvins was struck ; while 




WHEN HE STOOD FIRM. HIS LITTLE DUPLEX LOADED AND FIRED 
VALIANTLY OVER HIS SHOULDER." 



Facingr page 56 



BUI.L RUN 57 

among the rank and file the loss was proportionately heavy. A 
very storm of bullets was sweeping overhead, sounding like a 
swarm of bees above the men, who were lying prone on the earth, 
loading and firing point-blank into the woody covert where the 
unseen enemy lay. 

In the regiment was a very portly soldier; indeed, it is no exag- 
geration to say he had fully four inches of fat on his ribs and 
weighed at least three hundred pounds. How he contrived to 
gain sufficient nourishment out of our camp to keep up to the top 
notch of the scales was a question of wonderment and many a 
learned and solemn discussion. Be that as it may, a rosier, 
fresher or fleshier Rebel never "larded the earth" on a day's march. 
There was a little fellow about my size, the very smallest in the 
lot, who watched this big soldier during the conflict, if not with 
pride, certainly with interest out of all proportion to the differ- 
ence in their size. Wherever he went this youngster followed. 
When he advanced, the other was close behind him. When he 
stood firm, his little "Duplex" loaded and fired valiantly over his 
shoulder. More constant than a brother, truer than his shadow, 
more faithful than Ruth to Naomi, not even death could have 
separated them. Had this Hercules charged singled handed and 
alone the whole opposing army, little David would have brought 
up the rear. Had he hung back, his double-acting, patent attach- 
ment would have stayed with him. Had he died, his weeping 
mourner would have buried himself beside his ample remains. 
As before stated, the one was the very biggest, and the other the 
verv smallest. The waist of the one measured five feet around, 
that of the other twenty-two inches. The shoulders of the one 
spread out like the fabled Antaeus of old, — the other's were close 
together and all bone. The one stood six feet in his stockings, 
the other five feet two. Thus protected by this mountain of fat, 
this citadel of flesh, the little soldier felt bullet-proof and quite 
safe. With this movable entrement he laughed at musketry vol- 
leys, scorned and turned up his nose at hustling shells, kept close 
to his love and fired all around him, but never knew certainly 
whether he ever hit anything or not. 

There is nothing like getting warmed up to work ! Loading 
and firing sent the blood rushing through the veins. Instead of 
retiring, many of the men began to advance ; and no longer firing 
wildly at the sun, and pulling trigger at the sky, they became cool 
and composed and discharged their muskets at the flash of the 
enemy's guns. It was earnest work; the bulldog instinct of 



58 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

humanity all aroused. No longer were needed the officers* 
commands. The whole line reformed itself, and standing stub- 
bornly on the fringe of the woods delivered rattling volleys across 
the stream. 

Just here in the very zenith and heat of the conflict, when 
everything seemed going against us, an incident occurred so 
extremely ridiculous that even with death hovering near, many 
gave way to uncontrollable laughter, which, occurring at this ter- 
rible time, must have been heard by others, just as Faust listened 
to the mad merriment of the elfin goblins in the unhallowed rites 
of the Walpurgis Night. 

On the left of the ford there was a large tree. It was about 
ten yards from the water's edge, a great big sycamore, whose 
trunk was fully five feet in diameter, and whose spreading 
branches rose some fifty feet in the air. The flying bullets and 
hurrying shells had played the mischief with its top boughs, and 
the ground was covered with leaves and twigs cut off by the 
leaden and iron shower. On the safe side of the broad, knotty 
trunk some of the most timid had taken refuge, one behind the 
other. They had cast away their guns and they hugged each file 
leader close, forming a string of about forty men. The shells had 
frightened them, evidently preventing their departure to the rear. 
It was the screaming, shrieking, bursting shrapnel shot that kept 
them glued together. 

A shell from the enemy's battery on the left would hiss by 
them, and the whole string would gravitate toward the right, so 
as to get the sturdy trunk between them and the shot. All at 
once another batter}' on the right opened up on our lines, the balls 
sailing through the empty space, then the men, almost delirious 
with terror, would hang close and swing around on the opposite 
side, but only for a second. Here would come a shell from the 
left, and away would go the line like a pendulum, back through 
the half arc of the circle, and hardly a moment for breathing time 
before a half hundred weight of iron would rush by the tree with 
a demoniac yell, and the long, agonized queue described another 
parabolic curve. And so the band of brothers were kept shifting 
to and fro ; the fortunate ones next to the tree having nothing to 
do comparatively, while those who composed the end of the string 
were kept on the swing all the time. It was well enough, as long 
as they knew exactly upon which side to expect the shells, but 
what if both batteries had serenaded at the same time? What 



BUIvIv RUN 59 

then ? Laugh ! Take it all in all, it would have made the solemn- 
est old veteran grin. 

The violence of the fire was redoubled on our left, as if the 
enemy were preparing for a charge farther up the stream; Minie- 
balls swept in showers over our heads. 

The men wavered; the officers, hoarse with shouting, stood 
sullenly leaning on their swords ; the dribbling of the men to the 
rear commenced, — the most potent sign of disaster, — and it seemed 
as if defeat and retreat were now but questions of a very short 
time. Just at the critical moment, General Longstreet, with the 
divination of the born soldier, rode up and ordered a charge 
across the run. 

The men obeyed the summons and made a rush for the ford. 
They were not formed into line, but streamed across like a pack of 
hounds after a buck. Once in the woods most of the men scat- 
tered instead of forming in a skirmish line. They, like a lot of 
school boys, roamed at will, all eyes. As soldiers we were as 
green as the budding grass; had our adversaries been veteran 
troops they could have picked us off one by one with as much 
ease as a sportsman would bag a flushed covey of quail. 

Fortunately, our friends, the enemy, were as a babe to a callow 
youth. They too were strolling around admiring the scenery, 
and it only needed a dinner horn and a petticoat to make these 
adolescent Billies and Johnnies go to the branch, wash their faces 
and eat their meal together. Remember, we then had had no 
baptism of fire, except the frenzied shooting across the stream, 
in which we saw nothing of the foe. We had no wrongs to avenge, 
and the calm after the storm, the cool, quiet woods was so peace- 
ful that a reaction came. And the irony of it — Virginia and Mas- 
sachusetts ! The two old Commonwealths were pitted against 
each other in one of the first engagements of the war ; and strange 
to say the men of the First Massachusetts Infantry were dressed 
in gray — real rebel gray, only their jackets were ornamented with 
frogs and gilt buttons, and their caps all had in brass letters, ''ist 
Mass." 

I saw several men in gray — and I did not fire my musket ; and 
those I met had no murder in their souls, probably because they 
could not tell friend from foe, so we did nothing but stare. 

I was sitting on a log when two of the foe, beardless youths, 
came up to me and said they were lost and did not know what to 
do. I told them that I would show them the way, and we walked 



6o JOHNNY RKB AND BIIvLY YANK 

back to the ford, and they were very much surprised when they 
saw our men in soHd Hne of battle, across the stream. 

I carried them about a half mile to the rear and they told me 
that they were from Boston, and that they were glad after all 
that they were prisoners ; that the war would only last a few 
months and they wanted to see the inner life of the Rebels so that 
they would have lots to tell their folks at home. 

So that's how I captured two prisoners. I am free to confess 
that had they ordered me to follow them when in the woods, I 
certainly would have obeyed. 

Around the camp-fire that night rather big yarns were told, 
and most tremendous bragging done. Some went so far as to 
show notches on the stocks of their rifles for every man they had 
killed. Others narrated narrow escapes and displayed, by way of 
illustration, the hole torn in cap or jacket, the only damage done ; 
but more were silent, wilHng, it is supposed, to let some future 
record speak their praises. The fat man who acted as rampart 
in the engagement across the run was pleased to come to a per- 
sonal encounter with a plucky Northerner, and when seen was 
lying at the foot of the hill, prone on his back and on top of him 
his tough little adversary, making him "see stars." 

In the meantime, the love of the Union and hatred for traitors 
(this big old one in particular), animated the Bostonian till his 
arms worked like a windmill, and every stroke brought a groan. 
Reinforcements arrived, to whom the stricken one exclaimed : 

"Thank Heaven, you've come !" and clasping his small foe in 
his arms in a loving embrace, panted out, "Stick the rascal with 
your bayonet, but for God's sake don't stick too deep!" The moral 
was obvious. 

The enemy, after finding our position, had leisurely fallen back 
to the field on the left, where stood a house surrounded by a 
picket fence. Here they halted and threw a volley into the woods, 
which sent our forces down the hill and across the stream. 

The firing ceased, the crest of the hill having been swept clear 
of the enemy. Our regiment was reformed and the roll called. 
Our loss was found to be one man killed and ten wounded, includ- 
ing three officers. The brigade lost one hundred men, killed 
and wounded. The Seventeenth was relieved by the reserve, and 
retired a hundred yards or so to the rear. Ammunition was 
served out, rations distributed, and the order given to "break 
ranks." Soon the tired men were lying about in groups, talking 



BUI.Iv RUN 6l 

over their adventures and munching their crackers in the most 
contented enjoyment. 

The repose was soon broken by the sound of a signal gun, and 
hastily rising we became witnesses of the finest artillery duel that 
took place during the war. Our position was such that we could 
see the whole practice, being only about fifty yards away, and it 
seemed like some grand review in which was all the "pride, pomp 
and circumstances of glorious war, with none of its horrors." 

On our right, in the center of the big field, some seventy-five 
yards from the run, was posted a battalion of the Washington 
Artillery from Louisiana, whose guns were formed in the shape 
of a crescent with the hollow toward the run. The enemy 
occupied an open space on the opposite shore, hidden from view 
by the abrupt bank and dense shrubbery. The guns were of 
heavier metal than ours, as could be told by the report of the 
pieces. 

The Yankee batteries opened the salute first, gun by gun. The 
rebel pieces slowly replied, increasing in intensity and rapidity, 
until each gun was fired as fast as it could be loaded, and the 
detonations swelled into one prolonged roar. At first the enemy's 
shell fiew too high, but that was soon corrected, and then the mis- 
siles fell thick and fast among the Louisianians, who would there- 
upon move their guns forward by hand to get them out of range. 
After a while a dense smoke hovered over and hid both bat- 
talions from view; but through it the flashes of the guns could be 
seen as they darted out their tongues of flame. Soon the firing 
slackened; the guns, one by one, ceased; the smoke drifted 
away, disclosing the blackened meadow. The earth had been 
ridged in great holes where the shells had exploded, and one or 
two ammunition wagons had been shattered, but there were no 
dead bodies left upon the field to add a crowning terror to the 
scene. 

The next day we lay in line of battle, but heard no war-like 
sounds except an occasional picket-shot across the run. 

Another sun rose and set with everything still serene. 

By this time many of us were beginning to think the war was 
over, fancying the little affair at Blackburn's Ford, wherein the 
enemy had lost a hundred men, had demonstrated the uselessness 
of any attempt to subjugate the South, and that with enlightened 
minds thev had marched back to Washinsfton, soon to sue for 



62 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

peace on the basis of the Southern Confederacy. Heaven bless 
our innocent souls ! 

Company A was ordered early in the morning of the twenty- 
first to cross the run on a reconnaissance. As we reached the 
opposite side in carrying out this order, our nerves were shocked 
by the frightful appearance of the enemy's dead, which had now 
been lying in the hot, broiling sun for nearly three days. It was 
the first time we had been brought face to face with the ghastly 
terrors of war, and the sight made us sick in body, as well as at 
heart. The heat of summer had started rank corruption to its 
work. Faces and figures were bloated and swollen to such a 
degree that there remained no traces of sweet humanity, and 
those who loved them best would never have recognized the 
blackened features, the sightless, staring eyes. It was horrible 
and hideous beyond words to describe. 

A detail of men was made for the purpose of burying these 
dead, but they soon came back with pale faces, declaring that it 
could not be done ; that the sickening efifluvia prevented even an 
approach to the bodies. But another detail of older and more 
hardened men was appointed, who executed their task by throw- 
ing spades full of earth over the dead just as they lay, and so their 
ambitious hopes and aspirations ended in lonely unknown graves 
in the depth of the woods — mere heaped mounds raised by foe- 
man's hands. 

Leaving one company as scouts, the rest of the regiment 
retraced their steps and took up their old position in the trenches. 

It was a bright, clear, dewy morning; the birds were singing 
blithely in the tree tops, and it only needed the distant chimes 
of the church bells to make the unities of the scene perfect. 

All at once, without preliminary warning, the enemy's cannon 
opened with an infernal salute. The stirring tones of the officers 
were heard, and the clicking of the gun-locks told that the line was 
ready for the expected charge. But the firing ceased as suddenly 
as it had commenced, and we were left in peace. Probably this 
was a feint to feel our position, and nothing more. 

But away on the left, booming reports of cannon had been 
heard at intervals throughout the morning. Now, however, the 
cannonading assumed an angry tone that showed that it was no 
longer simply shelling, but a serious give-and-take afifair. 

Faster came the bellowing thunder, until the reports ran into 
each other so continuously they could not be counted. A heavy 



BULIv RUN 63 

battle was going on evidently; our regiment knew they were to 
take no part in it, for our duty being to defend the right flank, 
we were to remain stationary in the old position. 

So the engagement went on, and the persistent pounding of 
the cannon never ceased ; sometimes, rising above this, could be 
heard the crash of musketry, that told our excited imagination 
how close and deadly was the conflict. Yet no intelligence — not 
even a rumor reached us — of how the battle of Bull Run was 
going ; no thrilling news of victory ; no dread tidings of disaster ; 
while the men sat in serious silence listening to the sound of the 
fierce fight, or conversing in low tones, speculating upon the 
result — knowing not that Stonewall Jackson's star had risen on 
the world. 

About three o'clock, however, the excitement became intense, 
for the tremendous fire of musketry and the terrific noise of the 
artillery had merged into one, sounding close and clear, keeping 
up in one continuous volume, with no abatement for nearly half 
an hour; then there was a sudden lull and the reports ceased to 
be other than spasmodic. 

How had the battle gone? None knew, not even when a cour- 
ier dashed up, his horse covered with foam, and delivering some 
order put spurs to his steed and went ofT down the line like a 
shot. 

"Fall in, men ! Right flank ! Forward, march !" And we 
marched across the run, and headed for Centerville pike. 

A march for a mile carried us through the woods into a large 
field, where the splendid brigade halted for a short time, and 
where the news was communicated to the men that a great bat- 
tle had been fought and won ; that the enemy, panic-stricken, was 
flying in the wildest confusion toward Washington ; and that our 
brigade was to pursue them even to the banks of the Potomac. 

Such excitement ensued as beggared description. The enthus- 
iasm passed all bounds ; it approached madness. Cheer after 
cheer, hurrahs from thousands of throats rent the air; thousands 
of arms gesticulated ; thousands of caps were flung in the air, but 
only one wild, delirious cry went up, and that was "Forward !" 

The order to advance was given and the brigade, wrought up 
to uncontrollable excitement, increased their gait to a double- 
quick in the direction of the retreating foe, the officers in vain 
trying to check their ardor. And so advancing at a run down the 
pike toward the sound of the random firing, — a half mile or so, — 



64 JOHNNY RKB AND BIIvLY YANK 

they came to a breastwork built directly across the road, where 
batteries and heavy infantry reserves had been stationed. 

As we "right obHqned" to avoid it, we had tangible evidence of 
the hurried retreat. The road was strewn with papers, official 
orders, letters with seals, some unbroken. The tents of the offi- 
cers were left standing, with their clothing and trunks untouched; 
the suppers they were preparing were set out, the camp kettles 
of coffee actually boiling on the fire, the rations of bread and 
meat lay ready to be eaten. Guns, bayonets, boxes, ammunition, 
knapsacks, camp equipage, uniforms, clothing of all kinds, even 
officers' swords and crimson sashes were among the spoils, to say 
nothing of the dainties of every description, and the baskets of cham- 
pagne, upon which the flying enemy had purposed to feast in Rich- 
mond. 

Never was there a worse rout. Indeed, only raw troops could 
have become so utterly demoralized. Evidently they had not left 
five minutes before our arrival, and finding us so close, they must 
in an instant have lost all organization and were changed by utter 
panic into this fiying, frenzied mob. 

Still our soldiers kept on and showed no disposition to stop, 
even to pick up the valuable plunder within their reach, except 
that each man stooped and made a grab for the letters lying 
around, which he thrust by the handful in his haversack for future 
reading. 

The more scared we found the enemy to be, the more brave 
we became, until the men were in a very fever-heat to catch up 
with the foe. Exulting expressions burst forth, "We've got them 
now!" "We will be in Washington by daybreak!" "Forward, 
there in front !" "Step out !" "Don't stop !" 

Every man put his best foot foremost, and even our fat Jack 
panted on, wiping the dust and perspiration from his face. 

But the end came in a way we little dreamed of. A courier 
rode up and delivered an order to General Longstreet, and his 
reply was heard by the whole regiment, for he was riding in front 
of the Seventeenth, which led the column. 

"Retreat !" he thundered. "Hell ! the Federal army has broken 
to pieces." 

The amazing order "was given to halt, and the men stood in 
their tracks. But when the command was understood, "Right 
about face," and we started to retrace our steps, there came 
curses loud and deep. Some emotional natures, so brought down 



BUI.Iv RUN 65 

from extreme, thrilling excitement and high, bounding hopes, 
absolutely burst into tears, while disgusted, depressed and hungry, 
the whole brigade dragged itself back to the old position on the 
banks of the run. 

So ended our bright dreams of an early peace and a Southern 
independence. The Goddess "Opportunity" offered her face to 
us and proffered her flowing locks. The South had but to grasp 
it and the history of the New World might have been changed. 

Like Jerusalem, "She knows not the things that belonged to her 
own peace ;" "she knew not the time of her visitation." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

BUIvIv RUN TO WASHINGTON BUT TW^NTY-SIX MIIvKS. 

Not speaking from a partisan standpoint, nor yet straining the 
truth, in the Longstreet's first brigade there were three thou- 
sand one hundred and fifty men who could have marched to 
Alexandria that night. This brigade had been lying in the 
trenches for three days, with abundant rations, and had not 
walked a hundred yards nor fired a gun at the enemy in all that 
time. 

What an irretrievable blunder was committed in not following 
up the retreat, an impartial history will decide. 

Generals Johnston and Beauregard affirm that an advance to 
Washington would have been unwise ; declaring they had no 
fresh troops to throw against the fast-fleeing enemy. And yet 
by the official reports of the Battle of Bull Run, both of those 
commanders state that there were fresh troops which might have 
been used with such fatal effect. General Johnston says : "The 
apparent firmness of the United States troops at Centerville, who 
had not been engaged, which checked our pursuit; the strong 
forces occupying the works near Georgetown, Washington and 
Alexandria; the certainty too that General Patterson, if needed, 
would reach Washington with his army of 30,000 men sooner than 
we could, and the condition and inadequate means of the army, 
in ammunition, provisions and transportation, prevented any ser- 
ious thought of advancing against the Capital." General Beaure- 
gard says : "It is proper and doubtless expected that my coun- 
trymen should be made acquainted with some of the sufficient 
causes that prevented the advance of our forces and prolonged, 
vigorous pursuit of the enemy to and beyond the Potomac. An 
army which had fought as ours did on that day, against the 
uncommon odds under a July sun, most of the time without 
water, and without food, except a hastily-snatched scanty meal at 
dawn, was not in a condition for the toil of an eager, effective 
pursuit of an enemy immediately after the battle. And the want 
of a cavalry force made the pursuit a military impossibility." 

In the same report from which the above extract is quoted we 
learned the number of men who were "fresh" — not so much as 



BULL RUN TO WASHINGTON BUT TWLNTY-SIX MILES 67 

having fired a gun on the day of battle, and whose sole duty it 
had been to guard the fords, wings and communications of the 
army — all spick and span, and filled with fiery enthusiasm for the 
advance. 

As for the General's assertion that it is a military impossibility 
for a victorious army to follow up a panic-stricken, flying enemy 
without the aid of cavalry, it is simply an insult to any soldier's 
common sense. But if the statement of one so high in authority 
carries with it the weight of rank and experience, then with all 
due respect therefor, it may not be amiss to remember that 
Napoleon did not think so at Jena. Richmond was not of that 
opinion at Bosworth fields; nor yet Gates, when he followed up 
and forced the surrender of Burgoyne's army. And to go back 
to the days of Joshua, that mighty man of war who subdued and 
smote the countries around about him, it is only necessary to 
recall the fact that cavalry was forbidden the children of Israel, 
to be quite sure the overtaking, the pursuing, the slaughtering 
of those neighboring nations was done by men on foot. 

The following is a list of the regiments that took no active part 
whatever in the day's fighting, merely lying in position, protect- 
ing the wings, guarding the fords and watching the enemy. 

General Beauregard is again quoted : "As before stated, two 
regiments of Bonham's brigade, the Second and Eighth regi- 
ments of South Carolina Volunteers and Kemper's battery, took 
a distinguished part in the battle. The remainder, Third (Wil- 
liam's), Seventh (Bacon's) S. C. Volunteers, Eleventh (Kirk- 
land's) North Carolina regiments, six companies of the Eighth 
Louisiana Volunteers, Shields's battery, and one section of Wal- 
ton's battery under Lieutenant Garnelle, whether in holding their 
posts or taking up the pursuit, officers and men discharged their 
duty with credit and promise." 

All these troops were idle all the day of the 21st. 

General Beauregard goes on to say : 

"Longstreet's brigade, pursuant to orders, prescribing his part 
of the operations of the center and right wing, was thrown across 
Bull Run early in the morning, and under a severe fire of artillery, 
was skilfully disposed for the assault of the enemy's batteries in 
that quarter, but were withdrawn subsequently in consequence 
of the change of plan already mentioned and explained. The 
troops of this brigade were the First Virginia (Major Skinner), 
Eleventh Virginia (Garland's), Twenty-fourth Virginia (Lieuten- 
ant Colonel Houston), Fourth North Carolina (Colonel Jones), 



68 JOHNNY RKB AND BIL,I^Y YANK 

and Whitehead's company of Virginia cavalry. Throughout the 
day these troops evinced the most soldierly spirit. Brigadier 
General Holmes, left v^dth his brigade as a support to the same 
position in the original line of battle, had also been called to the 
left, whither he marched with the utmost speed; BUT NOT IN 
TIME TO JOIN ACTIVELY IN BATTLE. 

"Walker's rifle guns of the brigade, however, came up in time to 
be fired with precision and execution at the retreating enemy.'' 

Now adding the number of troops so shown to have been 
inactive, and we have : 

Longstreet's brigade, then full, not one of its companies hav- 
ing less than sixty men on the rolls ; but at least, say : 

First Virginia Regiment, 500 men ; Twenty-fourth Virginia 
Regiment, 500 men; Seventeenth Virginia Regiment, 865 men; 
Twenty-fourth Virginia Regiment, 500 men ; Fifth North Caro- 
lina Regiment, 500 men; two companies cavalry, 150 men. Total, 
3,015 men. 

Part of Bonham's brigade : Third Regiment North Carolina 
Volunteers, 600 men ; Seventh Regiment North Carolina Volun- 
teers, 500 men; Eleventh Regiment Louisiana Volunteers, 500 
men; six companies Eighth Louisiana Volunteers, 400 men. 
Total, 2,000 men. 

Ewell's brigade stationed at Union Mills : Hill's Thirteenth 
Virginia Volunteers, 550 men; Holmes's brigade, 2,050 men. 
Grand total, 7,615 men. 

It is here shown that there were 7,615 infantry who were not 
engaged in battle and ready to continue the pursuit — wild to ad- 
vance. There were four batteries of artillery which had not fired 
a gun that bloody day, and who stood harnessed and ready at the 
word "Go !" in all, eight thousand troops, according to Beaure- 
gard's own showing, who had been held in leash all that stirring 
time. 

Besides these, there were at least five thousand more who ar- 
rived on the field just as the battle closed, and could therefore 
have pressed the retreat, viz. : Eighteenth Virginia Infantry, 
Barksdale's Mississippi Regiment. Cocke's brigade, Early's First 
Maryland Volunteers, and others which were comparatively but 
little used and who reached the field only to participate in the 
glory and not the stubborn contest. 

And so with twelve thousand fresh troops at command, John- 
ston and Beauregard made the greatest military blunder on 
record; for with that force hotly, fiercely pressing the retreat. 



BULI, RUN TO WASHINGTON BUT TWENTY-SIX MII.e;S 69 

none but a fugitive enemy would have reached the defenses in 
Washington. 

How history repeats itself. Here in the New World was a 
battle fought, the conditions, forces, the very ground nearly 
identical with the one that decided the destiny of Europe, and as 
Tallerand remarked, "Set back the march of civilization a hun- 
dred years." The English under Wellington, the Old Iron Duke, 
occupied precisely our position, acting like us on the defensive, 
and repulsing with an inferior force, attack after attack, charge 
after charge; standing as a rock against the dashing, rushing bil- 
lows, waiting for and hoping for night or reinforcements; strik- 
ing back, giving blow for blow, and hanging to his ground with 
bulldog tenacity. At last Blucher came to the one, as Johnston 
came to the other. Wellington advanced; Beauregard stopped 
his serried ranks and went quietly into bivouac, allowing weeks 
and even months for the enemy to recruit its demoralized army, 
while there was not a moment's peace given to the flying French 
by the vengeful, pursuing Prussians, until they reached the de- 
fenses of Paris. 

Stuart had a hot argument with Beauregard when he issued 
orders to recall his cavalry. He often said afterwards, that he 
wanted to flank Centerville and push on to Alexandria with his 
cavalry, but received peremptory orders to stop pursuit. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CAMP ""no camp/'' 

Two days after the battle, on the 23d of July, the brigade was 
formed into line and again crossed Bull Run, keeping on until it 
reached Centerville. The men manifested no enthusiasm, know- 
ing that the advance meant only a camp at some point near Wash- 
ington. The whole command was in a sullen humor and received 
with the utmost disfavor the prospect of spending the summer 
and fall in the same inane, uneventful, pipe-claying, ever-dulling 
style that had characterized its former camp life. 

We arrived at Centerville and there bivouacked after a leisurely 
day's marching. The next morning the camp was measured out 
in an open field a mile from the village, and we went to work like 
beavers, pitching tents, digging trenches, and doing many little 
things to make ourselves as comfortable as our limited means 
would admit. 

The cantonment was christened "No Camp," and soon enough 
we were following the old routine, only enjoying far greater lib- 
erty now that we had received our initiation by fire. Having but 
little to do and the discipline relaxed, the days passed pleasantly 
enough. 

The winning of the battle of Bull Run was in reality a great 
disaster to the South. It aroused the mighty, puissant North, 
which, like a lion, shook its mane as it awoke from its fitful slum- 
ber. It made a peaceful settlement and separation impossible, 
and it stilled the South to a fanciful security. Better — better by 
far — that our forces had met crushing defeat, which would have 
opened the eyes of the people and caused them to "gird up their 
loins" for a desperate resistance, or to make terms with the 
enemy. 

The Richmond Examiner, of date of July 26th, 1862, stated: 
"We have assumed all along that the Battle of Manassas deter- 
mined the fate of the war, and secured our independence. Not 
only has that battle disorganized and demoralized the Yankee 
Army (which has returned home, as its time of service expires 
much faster than the raw and worthless recruits can come in their 
places), but it has also divided and demoralized the Cabinet, Con- 
gress, the Press and the people of the North." 



CAMP NO CAMP 71 

This opinion gained ground. It was so easy to believe, and 
it pleased the pride of all vain-glorious Southerners. 

A fatal lethargy was the result; and it afTected all the people 
south of Mason and Dixon's line. 

About a month after we had settled down into our new quar- 
ters the paymaster arrived. We were formed in a long line, and 
as each name was called the owner was made the happy recipient 
of a bundle of bank notes new and crisp, amounting to forty-four 
dollars for four months' service to the country. We younger 
ones were so agitated that we could hardly sign our names to the 
roll ; it was the first money some of us had ever earned in our 
lives, and we strutted about as proud as a dog with a new brass 
collar. 

Then for the first time we saw and made the acquaintance of 
that irrepressible character ycleped the sutler. One of them 
was very much insulted at being called a peddler by a soldier who 
had not been informed of the wide reputation of the profession; 
at any rate they soon opened their stock, and as we had been out 
of funds for months, and debarred of old-time comforts and lux- 
uries, we made the currency fly. A dollar then in Confederate 
money was as good as gold. These obliging tradesmen, how- 
ever, made from one to five hundred per cent, on our purchases; 
and as we bought freely our hard-earned money soon disap- 
peared. 

In about two weeks our licensed highwaymen, having sold their 
wares, consisting of stale pies, mouldy cakes, vinegar cider, 
canned fruits, fly-blown molasses and other useless articles, 
cleaned us out completely and "silently stole away," as they had 
been doing from the first. 

It might have saved useless formalities had the authorities at 
Richmond the next pay-day collected the money in a bale and 
sent it by express with the address : "Soldiers' Pay, to Regi- 
mental Sutler, Care of Quartermaster." 

The chief delight of the company was to serve on picket post 
at Falls Church, and the anticipation of it was like that of Christ- 
mas holidays to boys — enjoyed weeks beforehand. 

This little village was distant from Centerville about fourteen 
miles, and as many from Washington. Half a mile on the other 
side of Falls Church was Taylor's tavern, our most advanced 
picket post. Two companies from the different regiments were 
alternately on this duty, and would start out like civilians on a 
picnic. Novels, papers and cards became in great demand, as 



72 JOHNNY REB AND BILEY YANK 

away from camp there was nothing of which we were so prodigal 
as time. Starting early in the morning we would soon accom- 
plish the distance ; then selecting some deserted house as bar- 
racks, spend the sweet, soft summer days in the most delightful, 
lazy enjoyments. No drills on the dusty roads or barren fields; 
no inspection of arms ; and — every saint in the calendar be 
praised ! — no police duty. That after all was the soft corn on our 
military foot. Poor Hugh Hite, one of the F. F. V.'s, as we 
called them in Virginia, was wont to say in his wrath: "I volun- 
teered to defend the sacred soil with the last drop of my blood; 
but confound it all, if I joined the army to become — this!" 

Send a soldier on picket duty and give him sufficiency of food 
if you wish to make him happy. The fact that he is close to an 
enemy exhilarates his spirits, and the danger of sudden attack 
keeps him in good humor. It has all the charm of novelty to be 
isolated, as it were, from the thousands who form the army. To 
be only with chosen comrades and boon companions — this is of 
itself enough to change the dull, mechanical soldier into a bright, 
sentient, hopeful being. 

While about fifteen men at a time would be on active duty, 
the rest enjoyed the careless do-nothing-as-fancy-might-devise. 
Some would be lying under the trees in idle dreaming or in deeper 
slumber ; others reading, writing, with here and there a group 
absorbed in the mysteries of Old Sledge. But over every head 
drifted the soft, curling cloud of smoke from the valued briar-roots, 
reminding one of a cosy lot of chimneys in a small village. 

Night would bring the cheering camp-fire, and with it the light 
jest, the echoing laughter, the roaring camp song, for we boasted 
a fine chorus in the company, and two musical artists, so that 
those old rafters of Taylor's often rang with the unwonted sounds 
of morceaux from Rossini or gems from Mozart. Besides, we 
had a violin and banjo, in consequence of which stag-dances 
became the rage, breaking out upon the slightest provocation, 
and keeping time to those battered instruments with emphasis. 

Then the night picket on the outer post was not without its 
charm, though a half-frightened tremulous feeling ran throughout 
its experience, as a woof in the weaving. The moonlight made 
such weird shadows ; such uncanny shapes appeared to glide 
along the edge of the woods; such boding, suspicious noises were 
heard, that instinctively one would grasp the shining rifle barrel, 
and stand rigid with expectation. The croak of a frog, the hoot 
of an owl would thrill him with sudden apprehension, while his 



CAMP NO CAMP 73 

fervid imagination would picture creeping- figures of the foe 
stealthily drawing nearer. But dawn would come at last; the 
haunting moonlight would give place to the lightness of day; 
distorted objects would regain their wonted shapes, and the picket 
would smile at the terrors of his watch. 

As the summer slowly ended, and the sensitive leaves of the 
maple first showed by their changing color that the fall of the 
year was asserting its sway, our existence in camp was pleasant 
beyond all a soldier could wish. After a simple inspection and 
dress parade, no duty to be performed, we roamed at will through 
the shady woods, and bathed in the cool, limpid streams that 
abounded in that section. And this, too, in the loveliest, divinest 
season of the whole year. 

Our fare was very good, for by exchanging with the farmers 
our surplus of beef and salt pork, for vegetables, butter and eggs, 
we made a most beneficial mutual arrangement. 

The Confederate Commissariat was in an affluent condition 
then as compared with its after poverty. No man drew his pound 
of flour or crackers, his half pound of meat daily, for there was 
absolutely no drawing of rations. Whatever any of the various 
messes wanted could be procured from the store tent, which was 
pitched next to that of the captain, where were piled barrels of 
flour, meat, mess-pork, peas, beans, &c., all in the greatest pro- 
fusion. Every morning a freshly-killed beef was brought and 
laid at the store tent, with the understanding that each soldier was 
at liberty to cut off the quantity or quality that might best suit 
his taste. 

The country people flocked to the camp with every kind of 
produce that could be traded or bought, and on very reasonable 
terms, too. The table of each mess was supplied with roast beef, 
beef-steak, soup, vegetables, butter, milk, with pastry, fritters and 
molasses for desert, winding up with coffee. No marvel that the 
men grew plump and lazy, and even shrank from picket duty, 

A few having nothing else to do entered into a system of ex- 
perimental cookery that almost rivaled the unapproachable Soyer 
himself. Our crack cooks understood as many ways of dressing 
and preparing beef for the table as any French chef from Del- 
monico's. Indeed, many dishes were placed proudly upon the 
table by the gastronomic discoverers, that no one could tell of 
what they were composed — the true test of that art. At one time 
the interest in that subject was so keen, and the rivalry so great, 



74 JOHNNY R^B AND BIIvI^Y YANK 

that officers and men alike tried their hands at inventing new 
dishes for the mess. 

Very often the result was rather dubious, and the dinner 
would have to be thrown to the camp dogs that came, no one 
knew when or from where ; they belonged to no masters, and 
stood ready to catch any morsel thrown at them, or sneak off 
with whatsoever bones were within reach ; rogues, every one of 
them, with not an honest dog in the lot. 

Dinner was the great event of the day — the one occurrence 
that broke the monotony of camp. 

Below is a bill of fare copied verbatim from my diary : 

CAMP NO CAMP. 

Septetnber iSth, 1861. 
SOUP 
Beef, Virginia Style Mutton, a la Francais 

Chicken Beets Mutton Beef Mess Pork 

ROASTS 

Beef, a la Mode 

Shoat, Stuffed with Vegetables 

Mouton (French Style) 

ENTREES 

Beans Potatoes Cauliflower Egg Plant 

Tomatoes Peas 

WINES, LIQUORS, &c. 

Whiskey (Stone-Fence) Brandy (Red-Eye) 

Cider (Fairfax Best) 

DESSERT 
Cakes Rice Pudding Monkey Pudding Apple Dumplings 

FRUIT 

Apples Pears Peaches 

Coffee Pies 

The table was not set with snowy cloth, china and cut glass; 
neither were there waiters to change the plates. No ! The pri- 
vate was his own waiter and his own cook, and it was this distin- 



CAMP NO CAMP 75 

guished detailed chef and his assistants who served things by 
merely transferring pots and pans to an adjacent shady place. 
Notice being given that dinner was ready, a hungry crowd would 
soon gather, and each person taking a tin plate on his lap, help 
himself without grabbing — for there was plenty. 

Good humor and contentment reigned. The soldier learned 
to go back to his school-boy sports — marbles, "follow my 
leader," football, &c., and seemed to enjoy them as much as in 
the days of his youth. 

Five men out of six played cards, and some gambled day and 
night; draw-poker of course being the game. Those who had 
money staked it, but those who had none played for credit or 
"O. P.'s," which meant "Order on Paymaster." 

Some unfortunates actually lost their four years' pay in ad- 
vance, never drawing a cent during the entire time of the war; 
but they afterwards had the grim satisfaction of knowing they 
had not lost much. To such an extent was this gambling carried 
on that men played for the clothes they wore, and discounted 
every earthly thing they possessed. Indeed there were some in- 
veterate old sports in the First Brigade who would have played 
with the "Old Scratch" himself, and paid the forfeit with their 
own souls. 

The abandon, the dream of the soldier's life were all ours now. 
But sometimes, when there was a grand review of the whole army, 
there were but too many to deplore the inaction of that splendid 
body of men who marched and counter-marched in solid column 
across the level plain ; they deplored that such troops, with their 
high discipHne, their wondrous enthusiasm and "esprit de corps," 
were not forcing an offensive campaign instead of leading the 
lazy, enervating life, which, while it was good for health, was yet 
almost destructive to morals and training. 

Just at this time occurred the famous conference at Centerville, 
when Mr. Jeft'erson Davis commenced the role of "Military Dic- 
tator." Bred as a soldier at West Point, and afterwards serv- 
ing with distinction in the Mexican War in a subordinate capacity, 
his brief experience in one short campaign seemed to have con- 
vinced him that he was one of the foremost soldiers of the age, 
and the great military genius of the New World. Time proved 
that his strategy was faulty, his decisions ill-considered, his mind 
prejudiced, his nature obstinate, and his head far from clear — he 
lacked, more than anything else, poise and calm judgment. He 
often differed from the conclusions of the generals in the field; 



76 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

and to his blindness and obstinacy the Army of Northern Virginia 
were indebted at this time to their rusting inactivity. 

On the 6th of September Gen. J. E. Johnston wrote to the 
Secretary of War urging that President Davis should visit the 
headquarters of the army and have a council of war to decide 
upon the question whether or not the army should commence an 
offensive campaign on October the first. In compliance with 
this request the President came to Centerville, where General 
Beauregard's headquarters were located, and met the officers as 
designed. There were present Generals G. W. Smith, J. E. 
Johnston, and G. T. Beauregard. An account of this interview 
was drawn up and published in the Richmond Examiner shortly 
after, the document being subscribed to by all three of the offi- 
cers referred to. 

Gen. Smith submitted the propositions: 

I St. That the Army of Northern Virginia was at its highest 
point of efficiency, both as regards morals and numbers, and if 
kept inactive it must retrograde in every respect during the com- 
ing winter. 

2nd. The Federal Army was daily growing in numbers and 
discipline. 

3rd. That the best chance of ending the war was to strike a 
sudden and deadly blow. 

These deductions being unanimously agreed upon. General 
Smith then addressed the President : 

"Is it not possible. Sir, to increase the effective strength of this 
army, and put it in a condition to cross the Potomac and carry 
the war into the enemy's own country? Can you not by dimin- 
ishing the forces at other points as they will bear, and even risk- 
ing defeat at other places, put us in a condition to move forward? 
Success here gains all." In explanation and illustration of this 
plan, the three generals gave their unqualified opinion, that if 
for want of adequate strength on our part in Kentucky, the Fed- 
eral forces should take possession of that entire State, and even 
enter and occupy a portion of Tennessee, that a victory gained by 
this army beyond the Potomac would, by threatening the heart of 
the Northern States, compel their armies to fall back, free Ken- 
tucky and give us the line of the Ohio River within ten days 
thereafter. 

On the other hand, should our forces in Tennessee and south- 
ern Kentucky be strengthened so as to enable us to take and hold 
the Ohio River as a boundary, a disastrous defeat of this army 



CAMP NO CAMP "jy 

would at once be followed by an overwhelming raid of Northern 
invaders that would sweep through Kentucky and Tennessee, ex- 
tending to the northern part of the Cotton States, if not to 
New Orleans. Similar views were expressed in regard to the 
ultimate results in northwestern Virginia being dependent upon 
the success in this army, and various other illustrations were 
offered, showing that a triumph here was triumph everywhere; 
defeat here, was defeat everywhere, and that this was the point 
where all the available forces of the Confederacy should be con- 
centrated. 

It was conceded by all that the Army of Northern Virginia was 
not sufficient in numbers to assume the offensive beyond the 
Potomac. 

The President asked General Smith what number was neces- 
sary, in his opinion, to warrant an aggressive campaign; to cross 
the Potomac, cut off the communication of the enemy with their 
fortified Capital, and carry the war into their country. Gen. 
Smith replied : "Fifty-thousand effective men — sound soldiers — 
and they can be drawn from the Peninsula, Norfolk and West Vir- 
ginia." Generals Johnston and Beauregard said that a force of 
sixty thousand and more men would be necessary. 

This force would require large additional transportation and 
munitions of war. In this connection there was some discus- 
sion of the difficulties to be overcome, and the probabilities of 
success, but no one doubted the disastrous residts of remaining in- 
active throughout the fall and winter. Notwithstanding the 
belief that many soldiers in the Northern army were opposed on 
principle to invading the Southern States, and would fight better 
in defending their own homes than in attacking ours, it was con- 
curred in, that the best if not the only plan to insure success was 
to unite our forces and attack the enemy in their own country. 

The President gave no definite answer as to what number of 
troops he deemed sufficient, and no one present considered this 
question to be decided upon by any other person than the Com- 
mander-in-Chief. 

Finally the President delivered his ultimatum : 

That at this time no reinforcements of the kind wanted could he 
furnished the army. He ended by stating that the whole country 
was demanding protection at his hands, and praying for arms and 
troops for defense. He had been expecting arms from abroad, 
but was disappointed. Want of arms was the great difficulty. 
He expressed regret, and that was all. 



78 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

When the President had thus clearly and positively given his 
opinion, it was felt that it might be better to run the risk of almost 
certain destruction fighting upon the other side of the Potomac, 
rather than see the gradual dying out and declension of the army 
during the winter, at the end of which the terms of enlistment 
of half of the troops would expire. The prospect of a campaign 
commenced under such discouraging circumstances was rendered 
more gloomy by the daily increasing strength of the enemy, 
already much superior in numbers. 

The answer of the President was deemed final, and there was 
no other course left open but to follow the same masterly in- 
activity. If the enemy did not advance, we had but to azvait the 
coming winter and its results. 

During the conference, or council, which lasted about two 
hours, all was earnest, serious and deliberate. Gen. Smith said 
afterwards, in referring to it : 

"The impression made upon me was deep and lasting, and the 
foregoing statement is correct, and as far as it goes, gives a fair 
idea of all that occurred at that time, in regard to the question of 
crossing the Potomac." 

The report was signed in triplicate at Centerville, Va., Janu- 
ary 31, 1861.* 

The whole brigade during the autumn went on picket at Falls 
Church once in a while, and we usually kept northward until we 
reached Munson's Hill, a few miles from Washington. This high 
elevation was our farthest post, though not regularly picketed by 
either army, but each in turn occupying it. If we held the hill 
and our enemy advanced to take possession, we were too poHte 
not to yield the point ; and when we felt Hke indulging in a sur- 
vey from its lofty summit, including the church spires of Wash- 
ington, not to be outdone in gallantry, the poHtest of foes 
marched cheerfully down as we marched up. 

From the crest of Munson's Hill a magnificent scene did indeed 
stretch out before the eye ; the cities, the fields, the broad Po- 
tomac all spread out like a panorama at our feet. No grander 
spot could have been selected by the Moses of either side to "view 
the landscape o'er," of a land he yearned to enter, the while for 
very strong reasons he could not. Strong? Well, the huge 
forts spanning and dotting each rise of ground were very sugges- 

*For full report of the famous conference, see De Bow's Commercial Review, 
Vol. 8, p. 758. 



CAMP NO CAMP 79 

tive hints in their way, that our company was not desired in the 
National Capital while Bull Run still lay between Richmond and 
our See-saw Hill. 

In those autumn marches the buoyant feeling of the men 
found expression in song. One voice would start a favorite camp 
refrain, either "My Maryland," or "Gay and Happy we Will Be," 
the soldier next would take it up ; another would join in, another, 
and yet another; then the company, the regiment — until the 
whole brigade would swell the chorus, and with thousands of 
voices rising and falling in measured cadence, the effect would be 
indescribably grand, the music irresistibly inspiring. 

Brigade drill was a heavy affair, very tiresome, and an infliction 
to be endured while it lasted. It is ever a difficult manoeuvre to 
throw a brigade into a hollow square, especially if the com- 
manders of the companies are not well versed in "Hardee;" the 
wrong movement of one company will delay or throw out the 
formation of the whole square. When this would occur, our 
colonel, genial and sociable off the field, and a martinet on, as 
all officers should be, would fume and fret, until the luckless cap- 
tain, losing what little self-possession he had, blundered more and 
more and generally ended by tying up his company in a hard knot. 

Question. If it took so many minutes to form a square on 
parade ground, how long a time would be consumed if the ene- 
my's cavalry were charging and the solid shot plunging through 
the line? 

Even such a wearisome proceeding as driUing was not without 
its humorous side. Sometimes in making the soldiers charge 
bayonet in line, they would increase their speed and keep on, and 
never stop until they reached their camp, when the whole force 
would disappear, as if the ground had been the whale and they 
were Jonahs. 

Very often in manoeuvring in the field an old hare would jump 
up, shake his white tail by way of challenge and bound off. In 
that case good-by to all discipline. Regardless of officers' com- 
mands, the soldiers with one shout would start after him. True, 
some crack companies would keep firm so long as the rabbit did 
not run close to them, but not a minute longer; for catching the 
contagion, they too would start yelling and screaming on the 
chase. A strange characteristic of this Southern army was their 
insane desire to run a hare. Regiments that stood immovable 
under the severest fire, that never flinched while a charge of cav- 
alry dashed themselves in vain against them, would go all to 



8o JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

pieces at the mere sight of a "Molly Cotton-tail." Nay, the cry 
of "Old hare! old hare!" would set a camp in a blaze, and 
soldiers would drop everything to join in the pursuit. Away they 
would go like so many hounds after a fox, filling the air with their 
shouts — just so many thousand men after one poor little animal. 

On the 1 2th of October the brigade to which our regiment 
was attached drilled for the last time under the command of Gen- 
eral Longstreet, who had been appointed general of a division. 
In severing old ties, he addressed a very complimentary order 
to the First Brigade. Sorry enough were we to lose him. He 
had won and held the entire confidence of rank and file, who 
would have followed him blindly anywhere ; and this is more than 
they would have done for many who commanded them after- 
wards. It was a subject for congratulation that the brigade was 
incorporated in his new division. 

The late fall of '6i was cold and rainy, and the men kept 
closely in their tents. The regiment was ordered on picket 
duty, when there came an alarm of the enemy's approach, and we 
started on a run, not stopping until we reached our reserves some 
ten miles back; then we advanced in heavy style, only to find that 
some little Yankee drummer, beating his sheepskin for his own 
private delectation, had started some two thousand Rebels at full 
speed for the rear. 

It was abominable weather and the woods and fields at Falls 
Church were like Mr. Dick Swiveller's description of the marble 
floor of the Marchioness's, decidedly "sloppy." 

After a day's march we had camped in the woods and built huge 
fires, before whose glowing warmth we were fast drying oui* wet 
clothes when the drum beat the long roll. "What is the mean- 
ing of that racket?" was the universal query, expressed or unex- 
pressed. The officers, forming the line, soon showed what was 
in the wind; and the grumbling was fearful. Each man seemed 
to consider it a personal insult to himself, and had almost to be 
dragged into the ranks. Wet boots were savagely jerked and 
pulled on to undried feet, damp garments were drawn over shiv- 
ering limbs, sobby, dripping hats were put on aching heads, and 
the "miserables" started to march back to Centerville. the very 
place from whence they had just come. 

The slanting rain soon wet everything; the road became a 
quagmire; and the sleepy, weary soldiers tramped mechanically 
on. Though the rain continued to pour, and the road had 



CAMP "no camp'' 8i 

become but a bed of liquid mud, sleep fought and conquered us, 
and the soldiers actually slept as they marched in ranks. 

No greater torture falls to the lot of man than to feel an irre- 
sistible desire to sleep and yet be obliged to combat it. Truly the 
members of the old Venetian "Council of Ten" were devilishly 
wise when they banished sleep from the eyes of its victims. 

For a hundred yards on a smooth road we could march per- 
fectly unconscious, animated by a force independent of mind or 
will. The feet could take the same step, while the soul was far 
away in realms of dreamland. But should the ground become 
uneven, or a ditch or stream run across the highway to break the 
level, a bad stumble or pitching fall was sure to result. Then 
with restored consciousness we trudged along, fighting with 
Nature, the power that claimed us. Another level, easy stretch 
of ground and again somnambulism ensued, followed by the same 
inevitable gymnastics ; and so on through the long night. The 
intense effort to keep the mind clear, the wide-open straining of 
the eye, the feeling that the brain is succumbing to an overmaster- 
ing influence beyond the will, is simply horrible ; and many of us 
would have dropped out of ranks and laid down anywhere along 
the road, but for the report that the enemy was close behind. 
So we staggered along, asleep and awake, and reached the village 
at last. 

In Sir John Moore's withdrawal of his army in Spain we read 
of the same thing; and we know how common it was for Napo- 
leon's wearied soldiers to slumber in those long marches during 
the retreat from Moscow. The physical endurance of man is 
simply wonderful, and his power to adapt himself to surroundings 
none the less strange. Veterans have lain down by a six-gun bat- 
tery, whose throats were belching flame and smoke and earth- 
shaking thunder, and become as sweetly locked in sleep as if the 
iron storm were the mildest south wind sighing a lullaby among 
the trees. 

We had once a remarkable opportunity for noting the auto- 
matic power of the muscles while the senses were locked in deep- 
est sleep. It happened in this wise : 

Not long before this night march a party had been given near 
Fairfax Court House to a soldier and his bride, wherein the fair 
women of the country turned out in force to do them honor. We 
danced to the music of a fiddle, played by an old negro, and played 
well too; for to use his own expression, he "could knock a fiddle 
6 



82 JOHNNY RE;B AND BII^LY YANK 

cold." About two o'clock in the morning tliis ancient Orpheus 
began hterally to play out ; his arms grew weak, his fingers were 
cramped, and he laid aside the instrument, exclaiming: 

"Fo' de Lord, gen'lemen, de ball must come to an end, for de 
music can't feel de fingers on his hand, an' dis makes three nights 
I's been up." 

We plied the old fellow well with liquor, and after a promise of 
double fee he agreed to make another effort to play the "Old Vir- 
ginia Reel," as a winding up. It was about three o'clock and the 
two lines formed across the floor as the fiddler struck up the tune. 

The dancers went at it with a will ; faster and faster the music ; 
quicker the answering feet kept time, until the old house shook 
and quivered again. While each was doing his level best, deep in 
the mystery of "making his steps," it was noticed that the music 
was not always keeping time; "Sally come up" was being re- 
peated over and over again without variation. Calling in vain 
for another tune just for the sake of variety, the ancient African 
w^as found to be sound asleep. His head had sunk on his shoulder, 
his breathing was regular, while from his nose was issuing an 
orthodox, unmistakable snore. The violin was held in the usual 
way, except it was not resting under the chin, but on the breast. 
He played w^ell the half tune, only at times the bow would gHde on 
the wrong side of the bridge and produce a scratching sound. 
As he reclined there, sawing away in most profound oblivion, we 
stopped and watched the strange phenomenon, our host remark- 
ing that old Dan, the fiddler who now lay sleeping before us, was 
noted for combining the power of Orpheus with that of Mor- 
pheus ; that while the latter held him, the former used him. 



CHAPTER X. 

THI: ghost 01? CHANTlIvLY. 

A large ball was to be given near Fairfax Court House. A 
very high-toned affair, with the brigade band to furnish music. 
All the generals were to be there, with now and then a colonel ; 
but nothing except a star on the collar passed muster, with the 
exception of a few who could be counted on the fingers. I was 
well acquainted with the lady of the liouse, a dash.ing, brilliant 
brunette, reminding one of Di Vernon. She had no respect for 
buttons just because they were buttons, and would leave a gen- 
eral of a division any time to take a moonlight stroll with a gray 
jacket if she liked the wearer better. Yes ! It was to be a grand 
party, and the soldiers, from the highest to the lowest, discussed 
the great event around the camp-fire and envied the invited ones. 

When the day arrived, by judicious borrowing I had succeeded 
in getting up a very respectable costume. A white shirt was 
loaned me by one of my comrades, whose name I was asked to 
conceal for fear the whole company would bear it in mind and try 
to borrow it on some future occasion, it being the only one in the 
company. An officer, a friend of mine, supplied me with new 
military trowsers with a gold stripe down the sides ; I found a 
handkerchief lying around, not very white it is true, and I had a 
diamond ring on my finger; so I intended, under all this nimbus, 
to hold up my head with the highest general in the lot. 

As I sat in my tent busily rubbing and polishing my buttons, 
letting anticipation have full sway, I was awakened from my 
dream by the sergeant of the guard, who put his head inside, say- 
ing, "Hunter, report at once for guard duty!" 

"You must mean somebody else," I answered; "do you know 
there is to be a party to-night, and that I am invited to it?" 

"I have nothing to do with your party; you are on the regular 
detail to report at the guard-house at once," replied the sergeant 
grufifly, as he pulled his hat over his eyes and walked oft', leaving 
me numbed with despair. 

I went to the captain with the sad story; but something had 
gone wrong and he was cross, or rather sarcastically kind ; asked 
whether guard mounting should be stopped because there hap- 
pened to be a party in the neighborhood, and whether a wedding 



84 JOHNNY RKB and BILLY YANK 

would not have to be preceded by a flag of truce? I appealed to 
the colonel, but he was not invited, and being an old bachelor, 
wanted to go; hence he took savage pleasure in denying my re- 
quest. I sought the brigadier, who laughed at me; so, with a 
heart filled with the keenest disappointment, I reported to the 
guard-tent, where I was told I would not be posted till evening. 
I wandered off by myself with grief too profound for words — too 
poignant for consolation. Never did city belle, with her new 
dress ready for the ball which she was compelled to forego, feel 
more keenly the defeat of her hopes than I did mine ; relinquish- 
ing them, too, only to walk up and down a beat and cry "All's 
well" to the moon. 

Evening came and brought no joy to me. I smoked all the 
tobacco I had, for comfort, and then answered to my name at 
roll call. It was six o'clock, when instead of donning brave at- 
tire I followed the sergeant and struck out from camp. 

"Where are you going, Sergeant? I thought I was to be 
placed on a beat in camp!" 

"No," he said, "you are detailed by the officer of the day to 
guard Chantilly." 

"Oh !" I replied, "I am glad." And then I began to recall all 
I had heard of this famous ancestral place. 

Chantilly, the home of the old Stuarts, was one of the hand- 
somest country seats for miles around. In the olden days of Vir- 
ginia it was kept up in baronial style, and was the center of pro- 
fuse and lordly hospitality. 

Many were the gatherings within its walls of the sporting 
gentry who assembled to celebrate the annual meet from far and 
near. Imagination can picture the gay throng, just as tradition 
and old letters delight to hand them down. 

Let us see! There was my Lord Fairfax from Greenway 
Court, mounted on a splendid Arabian, followed by his faithful 
body servant Scipio, a recluse whom they called "the Cameron," 
but he was ever ready for the hunt. Then young Byrd of West- 
over, owner of a celebrated plantation on the James, which the 
Marquis de Chastelux, on a visit in 1770, pronounced the most 
beautiful estate in Virginia. Byrd was a zealous sportsman and 
had the finest hounds in the Colony. We must not leave out, 
either, Major Bullet, who knew and was known by everybody; 
for a roaring blade was the Major, who loved the wine cup, the 
chase and the sound of the rattling dice ; he was tall and slender, 
with soft brown eyes and a gentle voice — the mildest-mannered 



THE GHOST OF CHANTILLY 85 

man that ever scuttled ship or cut a throat, so 'tis said. Not a 
desperate-looking fellow by any means, though the Major was in 
the Colonial Army, and was noted for cool bravery and deter- 
mined nerve. He was nothing of a bully, — not even quarrel- 
some, — but his temper was rather quick and fiery ; and a more de- 
vout believer in the Code never lived; indeed, he had the reputa- 
tion of being the most famous duelist in Virginia. A crack shot 
and accomplished swordsman, it made little difference to him on 
the field whether the saw handle or the slender rapier was the 
weapon chosen. 

And there was Mann Page, the richest man in the Old Domin- 
ion ; with his plantation of eight thousand acres in Frederick 
County, called "Pageland ;" ten thousand acres in Prince William 
— "Pagewood;" four thousand more in Spottsylvania — "Glen- 
page," by name; and one thousand in King William — "Pompa- 
dike;" two thousand in Hanover; two thousand in James City; 
and a score of other farms of a thousand or so apiece, while his 
slaves were numbered by hundreds. 

Among the horsemen I see another character, and a most 
marked one of those times ; one who gives us a blessing when we 
come into the world and who throws the earth on us when we 
leave ; who by a few words changes the whole tenor of our lives, 
and makes Van Winkles and Mr. Caudles of the wisest of us — • 
who is loved by women and hated by men. I mean the Parson, 
as he was commonly called at that time. The preacher was a 
jovial fellow in those days, not much given to praying; who kept 
up with the gentry in the maddest of their sports. If the truth 
were told, he preached on Sunday, rode on Monday, got drunk 
on Tuesday, and so on through the nursery song. Yes! We 
can imagine them all — men with the historic names, which are as 
well known to us as household words handed down and worn by 
so many of our best and bravest. Selden, the handsomest man in 
the Colony. McCarthy, "Fighting Randolph Carter," Washing- 
ton, and hosts of others too numerous to mention. 

If the meet was striking, what must have been the glory of 
Chantilly in the Christmas time, when hosts of relations, friends 
and even strangers gathered around the immense yule log. Even 
around our camp-fires we had heard of old memories handed 
down from sires to sons, of those splendid entertainments; the 
table groaning under the weight of its feast; the rare old china: 
the massive family plate; the smoking haunch of venison; "old 
\'irginia cured" hams, sweet as sugar; wild fowl from the Chesa- 



86 JOHNNY re;b and billy yank 

peake ; fish from Hog Island ; rare old wines from famous cellars ; 
and the silver punch bowl filled with that most delicious of festive 
brews. 

We had heard too of those gay old balls where the proudest, 
the fairest and best of the Colonists met, where satin rustled, vel- 
vets trailed, and brocade swept over the polished floor; where 
jewels rich flashed in the soft, becoming light of numberless wax 
candles. And the dress of the cavaliers! Wh3^ the homeliest 
man would shine "a thing of beauty" in such arrayal, brought in 
big strong chests from across the sea — velvet coats with gold 
buttons ; elaborately embroidered satin vests worked in delicate 
designs ; dainty rufTs of fine old lace ; shorts that reached to the 
knee and tied with a garter; stockings of finest silk, and long, 
pointed shoes with jewelled buckles. Decked in these, with an 
embossed belt hung over the right shoulder, to which was at- 
tached a slender rapier in bright steel scabbard, and a three-cor- 
nered cocked hat, and you have the outfit complete in which 
shone the cavalier colonist in all his glory. A decided contrast to 
the stiff, ugly, conventional black of our present day. in which a 
man hardly can tell himself from his own waiter. Call to mind 
the stately gallantry, the elegant courtesy that makes the very 
mention of their names and their son's names, and their son's 
sons (generations all passed away) synonym of all that is refined 
and polished, of all that is courteous and chivalrous to women, 
and we once more people Chantilly with the men who trod its 
now deserted boards, and woke the slumbering echoes with dance 
and song and jest. 

Well, I confess the theme has ever had strange fascination for 
me, and many is the day-reverie in which they have been as 
present to my mind, in fancy, as if I had seen them with my own 
eyes; and before we leave the brave old chevaliers, with names 
that shone, some of them in Revolutionary annals, let us linger 
with them a moment at their banquets, then relegate them to the 
shadows from which we brought them — and peace be to their 
souls. See ! The dining hall is all ablaze with waxen lights in 
silver candlesticks. The glare from the huge hickory logs, burn- 
ing and snapping in the deep old fire-place, is touching and playing 
upon the burnished heavy plate. There are no ladies present — 
all the better, perhaps, if there had been, for these cocked-hat 
gentry imbibed like fish in those days, and got drunk on principle. 

Lucullus held as a maxim that women should be excluded from 
the feast, and Epicurus made it a practice to so banish them be- 



THg GHOST OF CHANTILLY 87 

cause dinner was considered too serious a thing to be trifled 
with. They both held that a man owed too sacred a duty to his 
digestion to risk it, since life becomes a burden without its per- 
fect condition. The fullest enjoyment was not to be secured, 
they said, — the heathens ! — with women present. A man could 
scarce hope to enjoy his wines, his soup and his roasts, and at 
the same time play the agreeable aitx dames. There was a time 
for everything; and the time to eat was to attend to one's gastric 
juices in undisturbed repose. 

The courteous host is doing the honors with a graciousness 
his wife could scarcely rival. George Mason is in the crowd, the 
very prince of good fellows. Lord Fairfax, representing many 
miles of Virginia land, is here to-night, bending from his stern 
dignity and helping to swel! the wassail, and by his side is his 
young friend, George Washington, trying to forget his dismissal 
by Mistress Gary, as he drains a bumper from the huge punch 
bowl. But why attempt to name them all ! Look how they rise 
and clink their glasses to that telling toast. How pleasantly it 
sounds, the roaring fire, the ringing of glasses, popping of corks, 
and the confused mingling of voices. You may be quite certain 
that the flowing bowl is circling round without stop or stay, and 
they are drinking without flinching to their host, each other, the 
chase and their sweetheart's eyes. 

Not till the cloth is removed is the revelry fairly at its height. 
With no fears of waiting wives or stern old governors, the men 
and youths are drinking deeply. Faces are already flushing to a 
deeper hue and voices are raised in tone. Steady old goers are 
speaking of dashing runs and desperate exploits of the chase ; the 
statesman is forgetting his caution and revealing the secrets of 
his heart; the planter is discussing his crops; the parson, with 
rubicund nose all aflame, is arguing in thick tones the relative 
styles of beauty with that rake, Major Bullet, and — but my dream 
is ended ; the conjured picture vanishes into thin air as did my 
reverie, of which this is but a shadow, when the sergeant's lips, 
which had been in solemn communing hitherto with his pipe, 
gathered voice to say : 

"Here we are !" I started, collected my wandering senses, and 
looked up. Before me was Ghantilly, a stately old place, with 
spacious porch and a passage running from end to end, so broad 
that a four-horse wagon might have driven throught it. A wide 
stairway led up to the apartments above. 

The house was built of brick brought over from England, but 



88 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

the various wings, added at intervals, were of solid oak. Around 
the house was a splendid park of full-grown chestnut trees that 
shadowed and adorned the fine old mansion. 

No one inhabited the house when the enemy made the first 
advance to Bull Run, its owner having collected previously all his 
negroes, "lares and penates," and started for Richmond. The said 
enemy had carried off all that was portable, but had had no time 
to gut and sack the house. To protect it from further plunder 
by our own soldiers, a guard was placed over it, with orders to 
allow no one to trespass upon the premises, and so it fell out 
that instead of tripping the light fantastic toe, I was doomed to 
guard old Chantilly that night. 

It was a beautiful, soft, balmy Indian summer night, and both 
grounds and mansion looked lovely. After sauntering some time 
along the porch I entered, and commenced a tour of inspection. 
On the right a door opened into the parlor, a long-, handsome 
apartment extending the whole length of the house. There was 
no furniture left except an ancient spindle-legged piano of Ger- 
man make, whose keys were yellow with age. I struck a few 
chords. It gave out a jingling sound, but appeared to be in pass- 
able tune. The instrument was at the front end of the parlor, 
between the door and the long window that opened into the 
porch. I am particular in describing its position. Across the 
room and directly opposite the piano there hung two portraits, 
the one of a woman, but so blurred with age as to be nearly indis- 
tinguishable; the other a man's, judging from his attire; the 
features had faded with time, all except the eyes, which shone out 
with startling distinctness from the shadowy face, with an expres- 
sion of intense surprise, as if questioning my presence there. 

Leaving this room I went up the broad, handsome stairway 
leading into a long gallery, from which a suite of rooms opened, 
looking to the front of the building. In nearly all of these apart- 
ments there was furniture, rather cracked and antique specimens, 
which no one but a curiosity seeker would care for. Evidently 
all articles of value had been removed and only these few old 
relics of a century past left as lone sentries at their post. Oh, sad ! 
This dismantled home, with its rich association of years, endeared 
to its owners by all the refinements of cultured Hfe, left to a 
ruthless and reckless soldiery! The old King Lear of a house, 
turned adrift in its old age to bear the raging tempest. Nothing 
but the body of the old house left — the soul, the life, all gone ! 

I explored the building all over, its every nook and corner, its 



THE GHOST OE CHANTILI.Y 89 

lofty rooms; it seemed as if a whole regiment might have found 
shelter within its spaciousness. Descending, I went out upon the 
porch, paced up and down, and watched the camp-fires breaking 
out one by one, like sentinel stars in the sky. Through the 
branches of the grove the night wind murmured a gentle plaint. 
It was dusk, and 

"Darker and darker 
The black shadows fall ;" 

the neighboring forest became one with the night, and the house 
was indistinguishable in the gloom. The reveille from camp had 
sounded eight o'clock ; it was time the relief was coming. I went 
on at six and had been two hours at my post. Four hours off 
for me, and then I was to go on again at midnight. Eight o'clock 
and dark as pitch ! I was getting nervous, I could swear that I 
heard a door slam. But, thank Heaven! there came the sound 
of the advancing relief. Their steady footfalls, the clink of their 
accoutrements was sweetest music to my longing ears. 

They advanced up the gravelled walk. 

"Halt! Grand relief! Friends with the countersign." 

"Advance, one with the countersign!" 

The guard came up to the porch and gave the password "Po- 
tomac." I yielded him my place, and repeated instructions, which 
were to let no one enter the house, and should it be attempted, 
to halt three times and then if necessary fire. I joined the relief, 
marched back to camp, and turning in the guard-tent w^as asleep 
in a moment. 

The quick, stern cry of "Guards, turn out!" brought us to our 
feet at once. Sergeants and men were talking in an excited tone 
and for a few moments no one could tell what was the matter. 
But the officer of the day came, and in the silence that then fell, 
the cause was soon understood. One of the relief was brought 
in the tent by two guards, and if ever there was a man literally 
frightened out of his senses, that man was before us then. His 
hat was gone, his hair hanging over his face, half hiding his wide, 
protruding eyes; his features were deadly pale, huge beads 
of perspiration were dropping down upon his jacket and he 
trembled like an aspen leaf. But he could answer no questions, 
and only begged that we would spare him the details of that which 
he had seen. Even after we had given him a heavy drink, and his 
pulse had assumed its wonted beat, and the color had returned 
slowly to his face — even then he said he could not put in words 



90 JOHNNY REB AND BII.I,Y YANK 

the terror of the past two hours. He had been detailed to guard 
Chantilly, and it was there at his post that he had heard and seen 
what he would never forget. And this was all we could learn — 
or ever learned. 

Again the trembling seized his limbs, again we noticed the 
deadly paleness of his face, when even the officer was moved to 
pity, and instead of having him handcuffed and tried in the near 
future for one of the most serious infractions of military law a 
soldier can commit, — that of leaving an outpost without permis- 
sion, — was so much struck with the man's abject condition that he 
only ordered him back to his post. 

But with this command the soldier positively refused to com- 
ply. He said without equivocation, he would be shot first, and 
that nothing earthly could induce him to go into that house again, 
or even near it after dark. He said too he knew it was now his 
business to try and put some people out of the world, but once 
out, he considered he had no further use for any of them ; and 
that he was willing to stand a court martial any day, but that he 
was not willing to stand up against ghosts. 

"Ghosts," said the officer contemptuously ; "ghosts ! Why, 
are you a baby? Some old woman's tales have been frightening 
you !" 

"May be they have and may be they haven't; but I am not 
going into that house again. You know yourself. Lieutenant, I 
don't sing second to any soldier on the battle-field." 

"Yes, that is so," cordially assented the officer, "and that is 
why I had thought better things of you ; but go in the guard-tent 
and consider yourself under arrest," 

Then turning to me he continued, "Hunter, get your musket 
and take his post; and. Sergeant, go and place this man on duty." 

I stood speechless and almost petrified. What! When a full- 
grown man, and one of the most daring soldiers in the regiment, 
had been scared almost to death at Chantilly, that I, a mere boy, 
should be sent in to that ghost-haunted place ! Me ! Ordered 
to go! Me! 

I could not believe anything so cruel, and I found words to 
protest. 

"Lieutenant, for God's sake don't send me to Chantilly!"' 

"That's your post, sir; go and take it." 

"But, Lieutenant, let some soldier go with me." 

"No, sir! Here you came to me this morning to be let off that 
you might attend a ball at the Court House, and now because 



THD GHOST OF CHANTILI^Y 9I 

this man has listened to some old grandmother's yarn, and fright- 
ened himself half to death, raised himself a shadow to run from, 
you must needs follow his example. Don't be a coward!" 

That word stung me and settled the matter so far as I was 
concerned. I would have gone inside a tomb and lain down, as 
Romeo says, "amid dead men's bones, reeky shanks and yellow, 
chapless skulls" in a charnel house, much less Chantilly. So I 
made but one request, to be allowed to take a light with me, 
which was granted, and then with my long tallow dip in hand, 
amid the good-bys of my comrades and their parting salutations 
and advice, I started with the sergeant for Chantilly. 

It was a moonless night, though the sky was brilliant with 
stars as we entered the dense grove. Passing through the gloom 
strange figures seemed to glide in and out among the tree trunks ; 
spectral arms reached out toward us ; the breeze, which had 
sprung up since night-fall, sounded like boding voices from the 
grave. I began to quiver with long, low, creeping shivers, that 
curdled the blood like a congestive chill. I thought 

"Of shapes that walk at dead of night, 

And clank their chains and wave the torch of Hell around the murderer's bed." 

I clung close to the sergeant, who was under the influence too, 
and was leaning over toward me; and in such affectionate man- 
ner we passed from under the trees and went stoutly up the walk 
to the house standing dark and grim in the background. 

I lit my candle, and unscrewing the bayonet from the gun, 
made use of it for a candlestick, and stuck it in the open piano. 

Ugh! How chilly the cold air felt inside the room; and how 
the old villain's eye glared from the portrait, to see me there 
again. I glared back, while the dip flared ominously, as if it meant 
to leave me in utter darkness. 

"Don't leave me, vSergeant!" I pleaded huskily. "Stay with 
me ! I swear I would rather go into heavy battle than stay here 
for ten minutes by myself." 

"I would do so, old fellow, but I have all the guard-mounts to 
attend to. Keep a stiff upper lip! Two hours will soon pass 
by, and if I possibly can, I will be here before that time; besides, 
you won't be in the dark," he added as he turned to go. 

"Do you think that candle will last two hours?" I inquired 
anxiously. 

"Oh, yes. Good-by, and don't allow your imagination to run 



92 JOHNNY R]<:B and BILLY YANK 

away with you." And so saying the sergeant struck a match, 
Hghted his pipe and left me. 

I looked at my borrowed watch; it was just twelve — the mystic 
hour when spirits most do walk abroad; and here behold me in 
the old haunted house alone ! 

Alone ! It meant more than at first appeared, when even the 
company of a dog would have been invaluable. 

I tried walking on the porch, but I had an insane desire to go 
inside; so stepping across the sill, I entered the parlor. The 
candle was flaring and wasting away in the draught; the old 
cavalier never ceased to look at me with those fierce, questioning 
eyes, as if bent on draining every secret of my soul. I struck 
some chords on the piano and the reverberations came back, it 
seemed, from every chamber in the house. I began to feel un- 
comfortable. The candle did not fully light the great room with 
the little ghostly glare it shed, and in the distant corners, lying 
in shadow, mystical spirits seemed to congregate, pointing and 
gibbering at me. 

"Black spirits and white, 
Blue spirits and gray." 

I grew so fancifully nervous that I went out in the open porch 
once more; and there I heard singular muffled voices up-stairs — 
voices as of women talking, it seemed to me. I turned cold, and 
back into the house I wandered in my restlessness, only to feel 
an added thrill as the eyes gleamed threateningly at me from the 
canvas. Again those sounds from the upper rooms, screams of 
laughter and — I could stand it no longer. Forming a desperate 
resolution, I grasped the candle in one hand, the musket in the 
other, and marched up the stairs. Each step woke a separate 
echo, and it seemed as if feet long since moldering in the grave 
were walking along the floors and ascending the back stairway 
and all the stairways at once, up into the gallery, while the high 
old clock stood like a spectre on the landing — I could swear that 
it was ticking. Nothing there. Through the front rooms — far- 
ther up, and I was appalled by a furious noise somewhere. I 
started to run, but knowing if I once took to flight I would never 
stop this side of camp, I retreated slowly. I saw nothing — not 
even a shadow. I turned to descend, and as I did so, I became 
conscious that something was following me. I could not hear it 
nor could I feel it or touch it; but my sixth sense told me the 
shape was there, dogging me close behind. 



THE GHOST OF CHANTILI^Y 93 

For the life of me I could not look around, so I kept on in- 
creasing my speed until I burst into the parlor with a rush, and 
then I turned and stood at bay. Nothing was there ! Absolutely 
nothing; and though I felt sick I tried to laugh it off but could 
not. Once more placing the bayonet candlestick in the piano 
top, I sought the open air of the porch and then lighted my pipe. 

sweet and noble comforter, what a friend thou art in need! 
for as the smoke curled up from my lips it left in its wake sweet- 
est and purest comfort. The bounding heart-beat became quiet 
and shaken nerves firmer, and I began to smile at the vivid imag- 
ination which made my ear take note of sounds that never smote 
the air. So I seated myself on the steps and watched the camp- 
fires which were fast smouldering out, leaving only one here and 
there to tell where a great army lay. x\nd then I commenced to 
sing in a low voice our favorite air : 

"All quiet along the Potomac to-night, 
Where the soldiers lie peacefully dreaming." 

"Hark! What sound was that! The piano — yes! the piano, 
as I live ! There goes a running scale, and now a full crash !" 

1 could scarcely get my breath and my heart thumped like a 
trip-hammer. I rose to my feet and stood like one turned to 
stone, and then by a strong effort of will I went across to the 
window and looked in. Everything was just as I had left it, only 
the candle was nearly burned up, and there remained but a death 
wick hanging down to chronicle departed time. The old fellow 
on the wall was scowling menacingly, and thrilled me with horror. 
I went back to my place again on the steps, again relit my pipe 
and sought to restore my shattered equilibrium. 

But my thoughts were far beyond my control and refused to 
be soothed by tobacco. They dwelt defiantly on every ghost 
story I had every heard. "Banquo" shook his gory locks at me 
with eyes that had no speculation in them, and I remember how 
Macbeth said: "It was a bold man that dare look on that which 
might appal the Devil." Old Mr. Hamlet, Sr., walked abroad 
with his slugged-up ear, rattling his "canonized bones hearsed in 
death." Clarence sat heavy on my soul; and all his fellow shad- 
ows struck as much terror to my heart as ever they did to Rich- 
ard's. I hardly know whose ghost the Witch of Endor brought 
up, or whether somebody brought up hers, but I am pretty cer- 
tain she was at her worst and favored me with her company. 



94 JOHNNY REB AND BII.I.Y YANK 

I recalled lines that I was not conscious had ever lingered in 
my mind, nor do I remember now where I have ever met with 
them. 

"We have no title-deeds to house or lands. 
Owners and occupants of earlier dates 
From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands 
And hold in mortmain still their old estates." 

Shades of Erebus! How many of those hapless landlords of 
Chantilly might take it into their heads to stalk abroad to-night. 

Here I was brought to my feet more quickly than if a whole 
salvo of artillery had been fired in the yard, for the crashing tones 
of the piano came again startlingly clear to my ear. There was 
no ground for a mistake now. I felt as if an icy hand encircled 
my heart; my head spun so I could not see. My brain teemed 
with horrid, hideous images, and skeleton hands seemed to grasp 
my throat. Rising to my feet with a spasmodic step like a sleep- 
walker, I turned toward the point from whence the sound pro- 
ceeded. Yes ! Yes ! Clear and loud the piano keys were being 
touched by ghostly fingers ! My eyes seemed to fill with blood ; 
and then like a felon walking from the cell door to the steps of the 
gallows, I moved to the window and looked in. 

I saw, or fancied I saw, a brilliant company in gorgeous array — 
but, oh horrors ! Instead of smiling, beautiful faces, there grinned 
each skull with awful cavities where eyes and nose should have 
been, and every toothless mouth was'^ping wide. 

A dozen skeleton fingers suddenly pointed to me, and a burst 
of hideous laughter followed. By the expiring flicker of the 
candle wick it looked to me like a scene from the Inferno. 

Unless I could break the spell I felt I should go mad; so with 
a last convulsive movement I raised my gun, levelled it and pulled 
the trigger. A burst of light — a stunning report — and darkness ! 
A shriek ! A long, loud shriek ! I turned and fled ! 

How I reached camp I never knew. I suppose I ran myself clear 
out of breath. I reached camp without hat, gun, or cartridge-box, 
and speechless. 

I told my tale by degrees to a believing audience — none 
doubted me. 

That night the lieutenant went with a guard and examined the 
premises. In the garret they found half a •-'^•^n svv^allows that 
had just tumbled down the chimney, and y -'l^ose mysterious 
noises that had frightened my brave predecessor and myself were 



THE GHOST OF CHANTILLY 95 

explained. So far so good. And now must 1 spoil my ghost story 
— they generally all end as did mine, so I had better add a few 
words more before we turn in for the night. 

In the parlor were found the remains of the candle, and on the 
keys lay a huge rat which my bullet had struck before it had em- 
bedded itself in the solid wood. The explanation now is easy. 

Frightened when I started, I became wrought up to such a 
state of nervous excitement by the noises up-stairs and my own 
vivid imagination, that when the old rat sounded the keys of the 
piano by jumping on them, I believed that beings of another 
world were present in bodily shape. Nay, I actually saw them, 
for superstitious terror had made me as mad as any patient in 
Bedlam, and with my own voice ringing in my ears, I broke away 
from the scene. 

You will say it was because I was a mere boy, but that had 
nothing to do with it — a boy can be as brave as a man. And 
every man is a coward in the dark. 

"Sergeant," said the colonel next day, "did you give a can- 
teen of whiskey to Private Hunter yesterday?" No, sir — the 
canteen was only half full, and he was so scared." 

Thereafter the doughtiest warrior would not stand guard at 
Chantilly, and it was left to be pillaged. The bad name it re- 
ceived remained with it. 

In 1862, just after the Second Battle of Manassas, the fine old 
house was burned to the ground ; and in a short while the forest 
was laid low by soldiers ; and so faded from earth even the slight- 
est trace of its site. The place that knew it knows it now no 
more — Sic transit. * 

How curious are the tricks of fate. There was one man of high 
rank in the Union Army, who in the days of Homer would have 
been the very incarnation of War. He was the Ajax of his 
legions, and led them in battle always where the harvest of death 
was thickest. 

Knightly as Bayard himself and as brave as Ney, he was the 
ideal American soldier of the nineteenth century. 

Reared and educated in America, after leaving his good right 
arm at Chapultepec in the far-away mountains of Mexico, he 
spent years in Europe, where he was the pride and delight of the 
Salon and the oi-'—nent of the courts of royalty. Coming back 
to his native lan< the commencement of the Civil War, he at 
once assumed high command, and on the evening of September 



96 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK 

ist, 1862, Gen. Phil. Kearny, charging through the oaks of "Old 
Chantilly," far in advance of his line of battle, with sword in hand 
and his bridle in his teeth, fell headlong, with a bullet through 
his heart, but a few steps from the historic mansion. I gazed 
long that gloomy evening upon his dead face, and wondered at 
the strange destiny that had brought him to die at the home of 
the Stuarts. 



CHAPTER XI. 

WINTER QUARTERS. 

It was now the latter part of October, and though the days 
were bright, warm and sunny, the nights commenced to be very 
cold. 

The troops began to build their winter quarters at Centerville, 
consisting mostly of double wall tents, well trenched on the out- 
side. The inner arrangements were a fire-place or kitchen stove 
bought, begged or borrowed, and on each side of it were two 
bunks for sleeping, while the cooking utensils, which formed no 
unimportant part of our economy, were placed anywhere and 
everywhere, hanging on nails, pitched on the ground, or chucked 
under the beds. None but a woman can keep a kitchen clean, and 
we did not even try. 

Our bread trough served us for two good purposes — used in 
the morning as a basin, then later for kneading the dough or 
beating up batter. The camp kettle was, however, the most im- 
portant culinary implement and was put to a variety of uses. It 
stewed our hash, it boiled our coffee, it made the soup at noon 
and cooked our hominy, while on Saturday we boiled our clothes 
in it. 

This was a most convenient arrangement and worked to our 
entire satisfaction. We were saved the trouble of rubbing and 
scrubbing our garments, and soon found that boiling would make 
them clean. 

Washing gave us more trouble than all the rest of our vexa- 
tions combined. It was far more distasteful to a soldier than even 
police duty; and when we could not get the task done for hire, 
we would be too often tempted to wear our underclothing until 
it fairly dropped off, and then apply to the quartermaster. One 
man could in this way use up enough apparel for a dozen. The 
waste was most lamentable and that at a time when we had need 
of the greatest economy, for it incurred a vast and useless outlay 
to the Government. In the European armies all these details are 
noticed and directed by the of^cers, and every soldier is required 
to take as much care of his clothes as of his musket and accou- 
trements. 

The winter in camp was simply one of dreary monotony, yet 
our rations were abundant and there was no complaint — only a 
little grumbling at the listless existence. But men will grumble 

7 



98 JOHNNY RDB AND BILLY YANK 

anywhere outside of Paradise, The weather was very inclement 
and drills were entirely dispensed with. The men rarely left their 
tents; lying huddled up in their bunks like pigs in a hole of a hay 
stack. 

The quietude of the camp was sometimes broken by a "free 
fight" between the two Irish companies. Whenever there 
chanced to be any contraband whiskey it w^as sure to show itself 
by warlike demonstrations in the men of companies I and G. 
Liquor, be it noticed, has different effects on different men. It 
induces a Frenchman to talk, and he shines out, the very em- 
bodiment of the graces, A German becomes gloomy and morose ; 
an Englishman grows affectionate; four fingers of stone-fence 
whiskey will set an Irishman fighting as surely as St. Patrick was 
a gentleman. 

At first the colonel would summon an armed guard to arrest 
the belligerents, and the whole brigade would be in an uproar. 
But he found it made bad blood between the contestants ; and as 
the Irishmen never used deadly weapons, but fought in their own 
loved manner with sticks and fists fairly, he thought it best to 
allow them to settle their little family quarrels in the usual way. 
After the melee, wherein had been showered hard knocks on 
harder skulls, — for they followed the time-honored custom of Old 
Erin, and in a riot when they saw a head would always hit it, — • 
the most pleasant and friendly relations would be resumed. 

Wounds were washed, cuts bound up, bruises bathed, heads 
bandaged, and the late foes were better friends than ever and 
ready for another loving tiff. But the hero of them all was Jerry 
F , of Company G, who was not unlike Spartacus the gladia- 
tor. No two could stand the weight of his puissant arm ; no head 
was proof against that huge shillalah. As the hero of Ballena- 
whack was ''cock of the walk" of Kinsale, so was he among his 
confreres, 

"He'd a blunderbuss too, of horse pistols a pair, 
But his favorite weapon was always a flail. 
I wish you could see how he'd empty a fair, 
For he handled it neatly, did Larry McHale." 

Pick out of any thronged thoroughfare ten Irishmen, and you 
will find at least six honest men. They are the bone and sinew 
of our land. They rear our stately structures, build our great in- 
dustrial works, develop our mines, and join heart and soul in our 
battles. What a happy, devil-me-care, laughter-loving fellow he 
is withal ! In all the troops of the Confederates, there were none 
truer or braver. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE RETREAT. 

The winter of '6i-'62 passed with nothing of note except that 
the Seventeenth enHsted for ninety-nine years, or for the war. 
We were now practiced in division drill, Longstreet being the 
only general who drilled by division. His crack command num- 
bered fifteen thousand muskets and were all in splendid condition. 
One day was so like another to us that we had to be told when 
Sunday came, for on that day there were no church-calling bells 
— no tolling chimes to mark the period of rest. 

Occasionally a furlough would be granted to some exception- 
ally favored soldier fortunate enough to get up any kind of sick- 
ness, and we would see him start on his journey with a joy in his 
eyes and an envy in our hearts which strong words only could 
describe. One man actually fished for leave of absence by beg- 
ging from Wash Milburn, the doctor's clerk, a package of ipecac, 
and had the nerve to take dose after dose. He fell off — grew 
white, looked indeed as if death had marked him for his own. He 
passed a rapid examination by the medical board, was granted a 
furlough, and sent on his way rejoicing. 

Cold, blustering- March was now at hand, and signalled his ap- 
proach by blowing down nearly all the tents of the army, thereby 
becoming responsible for a frightful amount of profanity. 

On the ninth of March, 1862, the whole army began its 
evacuation of Centerville. We had received orders to pack and 
be prepared to start at a moment's notice, while the news came 
that the enemy were moving against Centerville and Manassas in 
heavy force. An earnest hope was expressed by the troops that 
they yet might be ordered to remain and defend the breastworks 
upon which they had spent so much time and labor ; but the pack- 
ing kept on and soon every knapsack was filled to bursting. The 
various articles of comfort the soldiers had collected in camp 
were doomed to be left behind, for everything that the private 
in the ranks carried must be on his back. 

The army had been paid off in the winter, and as there were 
a goodly number of sutlers in Centerville, the men purchased 
anything that happened to strike their fancy, finding that when 



lOO JOHNNY REB AND BIL,I,Y YANK 

the winter was over their money was gone and their tents were 
filled with any quantity of useless impedimenta. 

Each soldier, though, loaded himself down, hating to leave any- 
thing behind to the enemy, and such a set of heavily-weighted 
men were never seen before; they looked for all the world like 
an army of porters, or rather buccaneers, who. having sacked some 
town, were returning laden with booty. Some had immense 
knapsacks bulging out ready to burst; others carried carpet-bags, 
old valises and even camp kettles, filled with every imaginable 
article that could be of no use, and lugged for many a weary mile 
only to be thrown aside at last. One infantryman was seen with 
a pack greater than ever peddler carried, and heavy enough for a 
dray. A huge knapsack was on his back, his musket rested on his 
right shoulder; his belt with cartridge-box and scabbard was 
Ixickled around his waist, a frying pan, coffee pot and tin cup 
were suspended by the straps of his knapsack, his haversack, with 
three day's rations, hung over the right shoulder ; a large writing- 
desk was under his left arm, a dressed turkey was transfixed by 
his bayonet and waved aloft in the air, while an enormous grain 
bag, filled with everything he did not want, was dragged along as 
a horse drags his cart, and so, snail fashion, he carried his house 
on his body. 

As the march proceeded, the heavy-laden began to unload. 
First one thing after another was discarded, and as mile after 
mile was traversed and heavier grew the burden, the more reck- 
less they became, fairly strewing the route with clothes, cooking 
utensils and provisions. But these household goods were not 
lost, for the country people in the vicinity reaped a rich harvest and 
laid in a large supply for future use. 

The troops now, for the first time, discovered what marching 
really meant, as day after day they kept up the long winding road 
leading southward, with a steady, ceaseless action that soon broke 
many down. The weather too was of the real March kind. It 
seemed as if it snowed the first hour, rained the second, was 
sunny the third, clouded up the fourth, hailed the fifth, rained 
again the sixth, sleeted the seventh, cleared up beautifully the 
eighth, and a hurricane the ninth, and froze everything solid the 
tenth, thawed the eleventh, with clear starlight the twelfth. 

The highways were in a woeful condition. Huge ruts seamed 
the road where the artillery had passed ; while the long train of 
heavily-loaded wagons had made the way a mire through which 




Hj>Ta! 



>x^c».l-\ 



"AND SO, SNAIL-FASHION. HE CARRIED HIS HOUSE ON HIS BODY. 
Facing- pawe 100 



THK RETREAT lOI 

the soldiers toiled painfully in sullen silence — or muttered anathe- 
mas against the weather and mud. 

At night, tired and stiff, we camped in some convenient woods, 
and using the axe remorselessly we soon had immense camp- 
fires blazing with a vigor and snap that sent warmth and joy to 
the marrow in our bones. A camp-fire is the delight of a soldier's 
life ; it is the one soft place in his heart ; and the larger it is, the 
happier is he. When its flames mount upward and entwine in 
loving embrace the very overhanging branches, when the coals 
lie hot and ruddy beneath, there is nothing he thinks he cannot 
dare of high emprise and valorous undertaking; but let them fade 
into dullness under an old green log, and he feels at once life is 
not worth a continental cent. 

Given : some vast monarch of the forest lying prone on the 
ground, with a fence near by whose rails are dry enough to burn, 
and in a short while our soldier will furnish you a picture of con- 
tentment as he lies on his blanket for hours placidly smoking his 
pipe, gazing into the burning embers and ascending flames, and 
building goodness only knows how many castles in the air. 

Our week's tramp brought us to Orange Court House, where 
the whole army camped until the sixth of April, when the march 
w^as again resumed, and this time toward Richmond. 

Mud! Mud! Mud! Everywhere and on everything — real 
sticky Louisa County mud, which is dark red loam, as hard to 
get rid of as if it had been tar and turpentine. It was no fun, either, 
to trudge along with three inches of the sacred soil clinging to 
each foot. 

The information that Yorktown had been attacked and the 
first assault upon Dam No. i had been repulsed with loss of the 
enemy, put new life into the army, so that it accomplished the 
distance in a very short time. 

Richmond was thronged with soldiers, for every man would 
leave camp just as it pleased him, and the citizens, full of patriot- 
ism then, would go out to their highways and compel them — it 
did not require much force either — to come into their homes and 
partake of such food as did not often fall in their way. Those 
army men were a well-behaved set ; and the city was as quiet and 
orderly as in its most peaceful days. The provost guard was not 
needed. A drunken soldier or two w^ould be gathered in here 
and there, and no harm done, for those visiting were obliged to 
leave their arms in camp. Indeed, they had in the main the in- 
stincts of gentlemen, and were ever found more ready to protect 



I02 JOHNNY REB AND BII,1,Y YANK 

and be polite to men and women, especially the latter, than to 
cause disturbance anywhere. The courtesy of the rank and file 
was ever a theme of strongest commendation ; and looking back 
upon the peace and quiet of Richmond during those four years of 
war, it is a matter of no little comment that the inhabitants of a 
city always thronged with soldiers, at times surrounded by the 
whole army, should at a time of such intense excitement have re- 
tired to rest night after night feeling as safe as a child in its 
mother's arms. 

House-breaking and robbing were unheard of; acts of violence 
were unknown; while the ladies felt as safe to walk the streets 
after dark, without fear of even a rude word spoken, as they did 
in the old days of peace. 

The private's cap was raised as courteously from his head at a 
woman's greeting as was the greatest general's — and any word 
of kindness or sympathy met immediate response. It is only to 
compare this state of things with any large city of Europe — to 
show how remarkable it was; for the strong and well-trained 
police force of that restless, surging tide of human life cannot suc- 
ceed in keeping down the acts of violence and murder that fill 
columns of its daily journals and throng its police courts and 
jails. To account for it fully, we must bear in mind that the rank 
and file of the Southern army contained a majority of the best 
and wealthiest in the land ; men in most instances who stood social- 
ly higher than some of the officers who commanded them ; and this 
had its effect — leavened the lump, as it were. 

I have heard many ladies of Richmond, who gave much of their 
time to nursing the sick and wounded, sa}?- that in the hospitals, 
where men of every state, age and rank lay side by side, suffering, 
delirious and dying, they never heard or saw the slightest word or 
look that made them hesitate to minister to their wants. 

Every soldier in the army owes a personal debt of gratitude 
to the women of Virginia, for sooner or later they were ministered 
to with the tenderest care when sick or wounded. In all the four 
years of the war no one ever heard of a woman being insulted in 
the streets of Virginia's Capital. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
IN the; trenches at yorktovvn. 

In March tlie brigade received orders to pass through Rich- 
mond en route to Yorktown. The men, ah-eady tired of the quar- 
ters, gladly fell into ranks. It was a scene never to be forgotten 
by any old Johnny who had cleaned his musket, washed his shirt 
and mended his rags to show off before les grandes dames of 
that city. It was one of those rare, lovely spring days, a relic of 
the summer, cut short by the waning fall, that, seeing its chance, 
edged in among the blustering days of March and beamed proud- 
ly in its sunny splendor. 

The whole city was on the qui vive; for nearly all the Army of 
Northern Virginia were to file for the first time through its thor- 
oughfares. Every one was astir — as if a herald had gone to each 
house, as they did in Rome during Caesar's triumph, and cried out : 

"Come hither to see what none of you have ever seen before 
or ever will see again." 

The windows, balconies and porticoes of Main Street were filled 
with the beauty and fashion of Richmond, and Richmond had the 
loveliest women in the world then. The side-walks were jammed 
with a vast enthusiastic crowd of old men, boys and girls, with 
here and there a hobbling wounded soldier, but no able-bodied 
civilians were among them. 

Oh! but it was a gallant showing — invincible, we thought — as 
they marched in solid column down the roadway, a full brass 
band to each brigade, and a drum and fife to each regiment. On 
they came, Longstreet's corps in advance, stepping jauntily to 
the air of "The girl I left behind me." 

As the Seventeenth reached the foot of Main Street near Rock- 
ets, to turn and look back was to have such a sight meet the gaze 
as the "Old Dominion" city never saw before. 

As far as the eye could reach, for nearly a mile, came the Con- 
federate Army of Northern Virginia in all its martial array. 

The steady tramp of marching thousands to the measured beat" 
of soul-stirring music, scintillating sun-gleams on burnished gims 
and glittering bayonets, the floating of banners, the waving of 
hats to the shouts of the multitude wrought into irrepressible 
ardor by the splendid pageantry, was a spectacle that photo- 



104 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

graphed itself upon the memory of every bystander and all soldiers 
who witnessed it or were in the ranks that day. 

We made a quick march to Williamsburg. "Magruder is in 
danger," flew from lip to lip and spurred the soldier on. We 
reached the old colonial town late in the night, and camped a few 
miles distant. A brief rest and then we took position in the 
trenches of Yorktown. 

A more desolate, dreary, abominable place to camp and picket 
it would have been impossible to find in Virginia. Our duty was 
to guard the outer line of the trenches near Dam No. i. The 
trenches ran along a low, swampy region of wet, sickly, yellow-clay 
soil, which held water as a sponge and stuck like a mustard plas- 
ter. The breastworks, thank Heaven ! we did not have to build. 
That infliction at least was spared us, for Magruder's men had 
thrown them up, perfect in execution and design. They were 
fully six and eight feet high, and solid in construction. 

The Seventeenth took position just on the left of Dam No. i. 
Across the way, not three hundred yards distant, were the enemy's 
picket lines, and farther back were the heavy batteries of columbiads 
and mortars, regular mounted siege guns, whose thunderous roar 
could be heard for miles, and the scream of whose shells as they 
flew tlirough the air was like the savage shriek of a demon ready 
to seize his prey. The guns gave us no rest by day, and startled 
us at night with spasmodic shots. 

After sunset we expected an attack and were not allowed to 
drop out of ranks. 

The first night it commenced to rain; not a rushing, driving 
rain, but a ceaseless, persistent, business-like rain, that gave no 
promise of letting up. In a few moments everything was wet 
through, and a shivering set of wretches stood in line with chat- 
tering teeth and cramped limbs, hugging their guns. It was pitch 
dark ; not a gleam of light anywhere — and to make matters worse, 
the trenches soon became the bed of a torrent. Oil-cloths, over- 
coats and blankets were but sodden things, that soaked in the 
water only to let it distill into our chilled bodies beneath. No 
place to lie down, no fire to warm the well-nigh torpid form, no 
comfort in the dark but one's own thoughts ; no hope but for the 
day to break. Like the weary watchers on a wrecked vessel, our 
only cry was, "Will the morning never come?" It seemed as if 
the light had left the earth forever, and those laggard hours, 
when we stood the whole night through without sleep, are now 
recalled as a frightful nightmare. Forced to stand all night on 



IN THE TRENCHES AT YORKTOWN IO5 

tired limbs, up to the knees in running water, and wet to the 
skin, proves how strangely wonderful is man's physical endurance. 

Day broke at last, but the pitiless rain came down with the 
same resolute, dogged, never-stop style, as if intent on drowning 
both armies. Three solitary crackers apiece, washed down 
by a mouthful of dirty water, constituted our rations for break- 
fast. The rain kept on. The heavens above us seemed to frown 
with a leaden, angry countenance, as if we were responsible for 
this turmoil on earth and it was retaliating. Night came again, 
and we rose stiffened, cramped and trembling from our muddy 
holes. Three crackers again were given us, and then the relent- 
less order, "Back into the trenches, men !" After that, another 
night of agonizing endurance and unutterable wretchedness. 

Some smoked their pipes, others talked in low tones, and 
others still, in hideous mockery, tried to sing — sing, did I say? 
Those songs were like the hurrahs of the trembling boarders of 
"Dotheboy's Hall" over Mr. Squeer's coming back home — shud- 
dering sighs with the chill on. All those voices ceased at last 
from sheer hopelessness. Every now and then would be heard a 
splash as some tired fellow's legs would give way under him and 
he would drop into the muddy water. Ever and anon would 
sound the warning notes of the look-out sentinels who were 
watching and peering into the inky darkness ; for we had every 
reason to believe that another attack on Dam No. i would be re- 
peated. The officers certainly looked for it every moment. 

Once and only once was the situation varied. 

A little after midnight a gun went off by accident, and half 
asleep, the whole line sprang to the parapet and blazed away in 
air. For half an hour a tremendous fusilade followed; every one 
loading and firing like mad, expecting the enemy would soon be 
swarming over the walls. But it was a false alarm. The pitchy 
blackness took the valor out of some, and frightened many half 
out of their senses. 

In the day time an advance could be seen and was rather liked ; 
but this firing alone in darkness, without being able to see friends, 
and worse still — enemies, had a queUing effect. However, each 
man loaded and fired as best he could, and when his musket would 
not go off, stood to set it a good example and went off himself. 
Certainly, had the enemy attacked, he might have carried the 
line easily, as not one musket in five would fire — the barrel being 
full of water. 



I06 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

Silence at last, and the color came back to cheeks that had 
paled, while all drew a long breath. 

Blessings on the man who invented tobacco ! Who can speak 
of its delights, its joys, its consolations like the soldier in the 
ranks ! Who but he can know how the weary march is shortened ; 
how hunger and cold are forgotten ; how with a panoramic fidelity 
old scenes and old faces are reproduced by that great genie and 
magician, the little briar-wood pipe ! Would I could immortalize 
you, O guide, counsellor and friend ! in glowing verse and song, 
for you were the truest ally that ragged, tattered Johnny Reb 
could ever claim. Quartermasters might fail him, commissaries 
disappoint him, sutlers forsake him — but tried companion and 
faithful comforter, yoit were never, never missing to cheer and 
solace him. 

We took those cherished pipes from our jacket-pockets — bosom 
friends they were — filled them with "The Soldier's Joy," a 
celebrated brand at that time, begged a light from a comrade if 
v.'e had none ourselves, and then, like a touch of Prospero's wand, 
the scene would change. 

"Look ! How bright the lights ! How beautiful the passing 
women ! And that strain of music, how dreamily it flows into the 
slow, gliding waltz ! How smoothly the couples float over the 
polished floor in rhythmic movement to the measured cadence ! A 
glass of champagne ! Here's to wives and sweethearts ; and suc- 
cess to our Confederacy — another glass, old friend! And now 
excuse me ! — for there she passes ! Flowers in her hair, gleaming 
neck and arms ! A glance, a smile — a happy flush upon her cheek. 
A stroll into the dimly lighted room, fragrant with exotics. How 
beautiful the face! How blue her eyes! How tender the lips! 
Gentle are the words of welcome, but — the pipe is out ; the vision 
is gone, and you are nothing but a poor private, and the rain is 
pouring down and your teeth are chattering like castanets." 

I said few slept, none restfully, but there was one exception. 
His eyes closed as peacefully, he slept as dreamlessly as if on a 
bed of down. In the Seventeenth was as gallant a son of "Old 
Erin" as ever fought the battles of other lands — Jerry, of Com- 
pany G; of stalwart frame, and with a heart big enough for ten 
men, as gentle as a woman's and as tender as the one that beat 
in Bayard's bosom. 

On many a march he would carry for miles the musket of a 
little fellow of Company A, whose willingness was greater than 
his strength. 



IN THE TRENCHES AT YORKTOWN 10/ 

That night in the Yorktown trenches, when the rain had made 
a deluge of the place, he hunted up his little friend, leaned against 
the parapet, opened his heavy overcoat, buttoned the cape close 
around the chilled and shivering figure, and pillowed the tired 
head on his breast; then throwing one arm across the boy he lit 
and smoked his blackened pipe, while his charge, in the new-found 
warmth and shelter, slept the whole night through. 

Stiffened and almost numbed, hardly daring to move lest he 
should rouse the sleeper in his arms, morning at last released 
him from his vigil. 

The clods of the valley were soon to rest upon that kindly 
heart instead of human touch, and the sands of life were running 
swiftly out; but ere then, in all the great round earth, no nobler, 
tenderer deed was done. Saints might stop to witness it — Re- 
cording Angels write it down : In the thousand and one inci- 
dents that my diary recalls of the Civil War there is none that 
so touched me as the loving care that Jerry ever took of me. in 
shadow and storm. If his last resting place could be found and a 
stone were planted to mark the spot, it should proclaim but one 
inscription : 

"The merciful obtain mercy." 

As light routed darkness and established its sway, the scene 
was not enlivening, and a bluer, more disgusted-looking tribe 
could not have been found outside the Seventeenth Regiment. 
They were too forlorn even to curse their untoward luck ; and 
could only wonder in a torpid, stupid way, wherein consisted the 
glory of a soldier's life. 

That morning we were relieved from duty ; and returning into 
the woods in the rear we built huge fires and disposed of the full 
rations that were issued. The sun even came out with his cheer- 
ing beams, and the regiment, like a bedraggled game-cock after 
a thunder-storm, dried its feathers, dressed its plumage, and with 
crest erect once more, walked about in its own usual complacency. 
Again the jovial song, light-hearted laughter and ringing voices 
resounded in the ranks, and the heavy rations of spirits that were 
distributed had no little tendency to bring this sudden forgetful- 
ness to their minds. 

I well remember that drink — it was the only one the Southern 
Confederacy ever issued, to our company at least. 

No attack was made at all ; and only the siege guns kept up 



I08 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

their ceaseless firing; and as their range was entirely too high, we 
soon became accustomed to their noise. 

It was a great mistake that McClellan made in not moving to 
assault Magruder as soon as he had his army, which consisted of 
112,392 men, fit for duty. (Report on Conduct of the War, Part 
I, p. 18.) 

President Lincoln, with his usual clear-headedness, wrote to 
McClellan April 9th, 1862: 

"I think it is the special time for you to strike a blow. By 
delay the enemy will gain steadily on you; that is, he will gain 
faster on you by fortifications and reinforcements than you can 
by reinforcements alone." (Ibid, p. 18.) 

So with 112,000 men McClellan proceeded to build forts, sap 
and mine in his endeavor to drive 14,000 of Magruder 's men. 

McClellan, on the 5th of May, when he was ready to open his 
guns, found the place empty. 

"The number of men comprising the Army of the Potomac on May 

1st, 1862. 

Gen. Staff, Engineer Brigade, Escort to Headquarters 

and Provost Guard 16,657 

Second Corps, General Sumner 22,002 

Third Corps, General Heintzelman 39,710 

Fourth Corps, General Keyes, 39^56 1 

Franklin's Division 12,448 

Fifth Corps, General Porter 26,561 

Army Corps, General Division 1 1,025 

General McCall's Division 12,263 

Total 179,999 

"I hereby certify that the preceding statement was accurately 
compiled on June 20th, 1862. 

"E. D. TOWNSEND, 

"Act. Adj. Gen."* 



*Report on the Conduct of the War, Part i, pp. 323-227- 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SHARPSHOOTERS AND SHARPSHOOTERS. 

As the day was bright and sunny, myself and two companions, 
with Captain Herald at our head, started on a sharpshooting ex- 
pedition. Our breastworks had been thrown up on the outer 
side of the woods ; but about two-hundred yards in front stretched 
open fields for nearly half a mile, and then came a fringe of woods. 
Running just back of those trees were the enemy's breastworks; 
and in our front, about a hundred yards distant, was a solitary, 
isolated fort that we held with a four-gun battery. 

Passing the outer row of rifle-pits, and disregarding the advice 
of the officer who commanded it, we commenced to creep on 
hands and knees through the swampy woods, keeping a sharp 
lookout. Suddenly we heard several faint reports ; whing ! whing 1 
zip! the angry bullets flew over us. Sinking down at full length 
on the ground, and peering out with beating hearts for a sight of 
the hidden enemy, we could detect nothing; not so much as the 
rustling of a leaf. 

"Shall we advance or go back?" whispered one of the party 
to the Captain. 

"We will try once more; keep close to the ground and don't 
make any noise," he answered. 

We crawled along some fifty yards farther, amid deathly silence, 
and then stopped to consider. We were now far beyond our last 
picket post, with no knowledge of the country, and no idea as to 
where the enemy's videttes might be. "It is foolish to go on," 
said the Captain, the most prudent of the number. 

We felt the truth of his remark, still the situation had its 

charms. It was a strange feeling, half fear, half bravado, mixed 

with a good deal of curiosity, that restrained while it urged us on. 

"Go back," said Common Sense, "you are doing no good, while 

running a heavy risk." 

"Keep on," said Recklessness, "and see what will happen; 
'nothing venture, nothing gain ;' besides, what will your comrades 
say if you return without having fired a shot?" 

So the Captain was overruled against his better judgment. 
Once more was heard the report of a rifle not far off, and Walter 
Addison, of Company A, called out quickly: "Get behind that 
log and look at the top of those trees," at the same time falling 
flat and peeping over the trunk in the direction of his extended 



no JOHNNY REB AND BILI^Y YANK 

finger. It needed no keen sense of sight to see what he was 
pointing out, for bright flashes of fire, followed by puffs of smoke, 
were issuing from the tops of the trees, not seventy-five yards 
distant. We all took careful aim and pulled trigger. Instantly 
the fire from them increased; bullets hummed around us like a 
raging swarm of bees; we started to load, when two or three 
balls, searching the covert about us, knocked the bark and splint- 
ers from the very log behind which we were lying. 

"It is time to be getting away from here," sang out Captain 

Herald. "It's too d hot for me, and now every man for hin\- 

self!" 

Then, like rabbits that had been jumped by the hounds, we 
broke away and ran. If anything is calculated to increase a 
man's speed it is to hear solid lead tearing its way after him when 
he is on a home run. As we raced in to our own breastworks, 
one or two guns discharged therefrom threw us into mortal ter- 
ror lest we should be shot by our own men. We could not cry 
out, for breath was gone; so it happened, when we reached the 
top of the parapet, we found our own soldiers kneeling with 
cocked guns on a ready. As we threw ourselves down, all ex- 
hausted and speechless, the officer said that with the noise we 
made in running to covert, the crack of the rifles, the whizzing of 
the cannon-shot, he felt sure that a storming party was about to 
attack our lines ; furthermore, that in his front were the enemy's 
videttes, the celebrated "Berdan Sharpshooters," considered the 
finest shots in their army. 

During the Peninsular Campaign, when we were in the trenches, 
this same organization kept us close within our works, hardly 
daring to lift our heads above tlie parapets. They were a full 
regiment, commanded by the colonel of that name, and com- 
posed of men picked from the Army of the Potomac for skill in 
handling the rifle. The North went into ecstasies over them, and 
the fugitive copies of Harper's Weekly which sometimes reached 
us abounded in complimentary wood-cuts of their achievements 
and prowess in the trenches before Yorktown — representing 
them, for instance, crowding us close to our works, and picking 
off Rebels with as much nonchalance and coolness as a farmer 
boy would blackbirds and mud-larks. Their arms were beau- 
tiful and costly pieces of heavy calibre ; each rifle had its hand- 
some leathern cover. 

The men of the "Berdan Sharpshooters" received thirty dol- 
lars per month, and had no picketing to do; neither were they 
sent into actual engagements, nor yet subjected to any of the 



SHARPSHOOTERS AND SHARPSHOOTERS III 

hardships which the infantrymen are obhged to undergo; their 
only duty being the extreme advance. 

Some of these sharpshooters had holes dug in the ground close 
to our trenches, within which they had every comfort, while they 
kept a close and constant watch over us. We used to place a hat 
on a stick and lift it above the embankment just to see them put 
a bullet in it. 

We lost in the Seventeenth, by these sharpshooters during our 
occupancy of the trenches, a sergeant killed, one private killed, 
o.id two wounded. 

While at Yorktown tlie reorganization of the army was held 
by the privates electing their officers in accordance with an act of 
the Confederate Congress passed in 1861. It would have been 
better for the country could all those legislators who voted for 
the resolution have been blown high in air by some Confederate 
"Guy Fawkes." For this was the "Iliad of all our woes." 

Before, we had good officers, proud of their position and zeal- 
ous in the discharge of their duty — officers who laboriously drilled 
the men, knowing the value of good discipline. They had exacted 
implicit obedience, and of course were looked upon as mar- 
tinets. When this reorganization act was carried out it was 
found — as might have been expected — only a source of demor- 
alization; and all uncalled for as it was, set every lazy or am- 
bitious musket-carrier to lobbying, begging and electioneering 
for the position of officer. By specious promises, infinite lying 
and servile mendicancy, some of the most worthless men in the 
army were placed in authority, sworn to let the soldiers have an 
easy time, and pledged, in other words, to relax all discipline, 
thereby destroying the efficiency of the volunteers. Many splen- 
did officers were relegated to the ranks by this reorganization — 
demoralization — scheme, for, too proud to beg for votes, too true 
to their own sense of right, they stood aloof and watched how 
spurs could be won by a despicable play on the worst passions of 
men, rather than by bravery and military accomplishments. On 
such occasions, it has ever been the experience of the world, the 
unworthy are most apt to rise and ride into power. 

Had the Confederate Congress but passed an act making valor 
and skill on the battle-field the sole and only medium of promo- 
tion, the Army of Northern Virginia would have been twice as 
efficient — but more of this anon. 

This election foisted upon the Seventeenth several worthless 
officers whose names afterwards became bywords of reproach, 
ridicule and scorn. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE FAT AND LEAN OE A SOEDIER'S EIEE. 

Once more the regiment was ordered back into the trenches, 
and no sooner did we leave the works than the clouds gathered, 
the air grew dark and murky and it began to rain. It seemed as 
if the sky was one vast mill-pond with the sluice gate opened. 
The trenches, as before, became creeks and rivers, and our past 
experience was repeated. The same old fortitude had to be 
summoned ; the same suffering borne. 

At least one- fourth of the regiment succumbed; many caught 
violent colds, neuralgia and rheumatism, and were sent to the 
hospital tents. These, fortunate in escaping the trenches, if un- 
fortunate in suffering pain and illness, were packed in an ambu- 
lance and carried some two miles to the rear, where a number 
of large hospital tents were pitched. 

In one of these some four of us were placed on beds consisting 
of blankets spread upon the bare ground, with no extra covering 
and no pillows. We had much to be thankful for; we were not 
extremely ill as some were, lying tossing with fever, or shivering 
with chills as they rested upon the earth ; while above all, the 
ground inside the tent was dry; and it was happiness to feel our- 
selves once more outside of a puddle of water. So the sick quar- 
tette lay curled up in their tent three whole days, under the care 
of the M. D. of the Seventeenth, Doctor M. M. Lewis, as grand 
a specimen of mankind as ever lived ; a glorious man in every 
way ; with a skill in his profession that ranked second to none, and 
withal, the handsomest man in the division. 

The fourth day, when the Doctor visited on the rounds, he 
brought with him a gentleman whom he introduced to me as my 
uncle, and who was living only a few miles from Yorktown. The 
said relative was a bachelor of long standing, the possessor of a 
large plantation on the James, with scores of darkies at his com- 
mand ; and never was the sight of the "long lost father's" face 
more welcome to a son than was his to me. 

I blessed my grandfather's memory for having such a son. 

"Are you well enough to go?" asked the Doctor. 

For answer, the erstwhile sick man jumped up and cut a pigeon- 
wing, which rather surprised that disciple of Esculapius, who had 



THE FAT AND LEAN OF A SOEDIEr's LIFE II3 

found me so weak a few minutes before that it was necessary to 
raise my head to administer medicine. 

"Can I take my comrades?" I asked of my new-found relative. 
Well, he "reckoned so" — a whole company if I wanted, there was 
room enough, and rations for all. Whereupon three figures 
sprang from the blankets and had a private stag-dance all to 
themselves. 

"A most wonderful cure," said the Doctor. "I must send you 
all back to the trenches !" 

Four figures sank back simultaneously on the blanket, with a 
groan; four faces twisted themselves in contortions of intense 
suffering; four voices made themselves heard in tones of weak, 
yet bitter complainings. 

Said one resignedly : "Well, I might as well die in the trenches 
as Hnger on here." 

"Just my luck," groaned the second. "I never expected to go 
anywhere except into battle that something didn't turn up to pre- 
vent. No use trying to get to heaven, that I can see; I'd be 
sure to go the other way !" 

"I was born unlucky," moaned the third. "If it rained mush it 
would find me without a spoon." 

Meanwhile T just rolled over and over in anguish of soul. 

"Well, boys, I hardly think that Yorktown will be surrendered 
if I let you go," said the Doctor; "however, let me feel your 
pulses!" 

Four dirty paws, that had not felt water for three days, were 
pushed toward him, and four pairs of strong lungs stoutly held 
their breath in order to make each beat as slow and weak as pos- 
sible. "Here — hum," he reflected. "Castor oil for number one." 
(Something like "dam" was heard to issue from the lips of number 
one.) "Blue mass to bring up the bile from number two's 
stomach." (A muttered exclamation from said number, to the effect 
that he had not had anything in that locality for a week past!) 
This caused my old uncle to grin and remark confidentially that he 
would soon fill it up. "Quinine to be taken regularly by No. 3." 
The alacrity with which the faithful promiser gave himself away to 
the Doctor was suspicious to any one who knew him intimately. 
"Strict diet for No. 4." A smothered exclamation, with the infor- 
mation that that had been the trouble with him all along, running 
off into a right good chuckle, was exhilarating in its influence on 
the whole party. 

And so, with their prescriptions and sick furloughs, and hearts 
brimful of happiness, we jumped cheerfully into a light wagon 
and rattled along to our destination. 
8 



114 JOHNNY R^B AND BIIvLY YANK 

The plantation, situated on Swift Creek, turned out in honor 
of young "Massa" and his confreres, and they held a levee, from 
the head-waiter to the lowest field-hand, for the servants on old 
Virginia homesteads were wont to be more clannish than the fam- 
ily itself, and the return of any member "to the old place" was 
regarded as a special compliment to themselves, which they were 
in honor bound to reciprocate to the best of their ability. And 
only let the child of some "young missus" or "young massa" 
come on a visit, and the satisfaction in their beaming faces knows 
no bounds. 

"Lor', now, you don't say this is Miss Mary's chile!" in tones 
of varied exclamations of surprise and wonderment from the older 
servants, while the young ones gazed wrapt. "Favors her now, 
don't he?" "Bless my soul, honey, I knowed yer ma! Haven't 
I tole you, nigger, what a pretty young lady she was?" The rest 
yielded glad assent, for the most valued traditions handed down 
around the cabin fires are of the family, of whom they are ever 
proud. Indeed, they consider their own standing in dusky society 
more or less impregnable, as they were owned by masters of long 
lineage and purses, Avhile they refused association with those less 
favored. 

However, money was of less importance in their eyes than fam- 
ily. To say, "I am one of Mass. 's servants," filling the 

blank with the name of the owner of some well-known plantation, 
v/ith a descent from irreproachable ancestors, was for them equiv- 
alent to a coat-of-arms. 

If one of the daughters of the house was anything of a belle, 
the smallest darky on the place, who stoned the cows, chased the 
geese, or jumped at a cent, could tell the name of the discarded 
lovers who had ridden hopelessly away; and discuss the favored 
suitor. A wedding was a most momentous incident in their lives, 
the memories of the grandeur of which was handed down to the 
third and fourth generation. The children of the family were 
always borne in mind, and the retainers were as faithful chron- 
iclers of collateral relations and connections as the big family Bible. 

Richmond society smiled amusedly in old ante-bellum days 
when it was told how a genteel-looking old darky had refused to 
occupy a pew with others of his color, because, as he said, he 
belonged to Chief Justice Marshall, and he was not going to de- 
mean himself by "sitting in the pew with any nigger whatsoever." 
But this jealousy of grade went farther down, and had a wheel 
within a wheel. On the plantation, for instance, there were as 



THE FAT AND LEAN OE A SOLDIERS LIEE 1 15 

many stratas of society as ever existed in a city or the Queen's 
drawing-room. 

First, there was the very Jiaut ton of plantation aristocracy — 
the butler, who was ever a pompous old fellow, with nothing to do 
but serve the meals and wait on the table and act as his master's 
confidential valet ; he was always well-dressed, inheriting the 
master's clothes, and he was ever most observant of ceremonious 
etiquette. Under him were various lackeys who received instruc- 
tions and awaited his orders, regarding their course as quite col- 
legiate. Then there was the head nurse, "Mammy," as she was 
always called — an elderly, important, bustling individual, who 
raised her mistress, and mistress's cliilch-cn, and from this high 
standpoint she was mistress of society. 

The children she had nursed with such faithful devotion loved 
her next to their own mother ; went to her in all their perplexities 
and joys, and poured into her listening ear all their youthful con- 
fidences; she called them her babies, licr children, and they were 
hardly second in her heart to her own. She petted them, sym- 
pathized with them and scolded them by turns. The family treated 
her with deference, trusted her implicitly, and consulted her judg- 
ment, while her own race regarded her as some great prime min- 
ister. 

Only second to her was the cook, generally as black as the ace of 
spades ; always rotund, and supremely dictatorial. In her realm 
she was as absolute as Pluto, and had a tribe of assistants to do 
her bidding. She could be seen in front of the kitchen door in a 
huge splint-bottomed chair, on a warm, sunny day, with a flaming 
red bandana handkerchief coiled like a serpent around her head, 
giving directions to her scullions; or perchance deep in consulta- 
tion with her mistress about the coming dinner. One peculiarity 
about the cook was that she never had a husband ; like the imper- 
ial sultana, she had her connubial fancies, only they did not last 
long; so acknowledging no lord or master, she governed her 
kingdom in her own way. One other peculiarity she had — she 
permitted no children in her domain, and were they ever brave 
enough to enter its precincts, the dish-cloth they would after- 
wards find pinned to their clothes, by way of deep disgrace, served 
to remind the world in general that they had been out of their 
proper sphere and in forbidden quarters. 

Still there would come propitiatory offerings in the way of 
horse-cakes, and cakes in the shape of many animals whose 
anatomy would puzzle the brain of Agassiz himself, thus proving 



Il6 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

the existence of a soft spot under the layers of cuHnary adipose, 
which it were otherwise hard to find ; only let no one presume on 
such favors. 

The coachman must not be forgotten by any means ! He 
held his head high, you may be sure, and scorned to do manual 
labor. His horses were his delight and pride ; the stable his king- 
dom; and sitting in state, clothed in all the majesty of livery^ 
behind a pair of thoroughbreds, he was an object of unapproach- 
able and reverential awe to every darky on the place, especially 
to the little fellows who coveted the coming honor, and whose 
very dreams, if they ever had any, were tinctured by the hope of 
it. These officials, high in office, with their wives and children, 
moved in the upper tendom. Their language was most preten- 
tious, and they treated each other with exaggerated politeness ; 
being especially fond of using long words, and never uttering a 
short one if they could find another of more extended syllables ; 
and on the principle that familiarity bred contempt, the less they 
knew of its meaning the more respect they had for it. 

The house-servants formed a second grade, visiting and asso- 
ciating among themselves; occasional intercourse with la creine 
dc la creme, — not enough to make them too proud, however, — 
advancing them considerably in their own estimation. The 
dining-room servant and under-waiters, the seamstress, the cham- 
bermaids and young assistants, the vice-nurses under mammy 
belonged to this most genteel set. The footman, gardeners and 
the laundresses were still another layer in the strata ; while all 
looked down with extreme disdain upon the "common niggers," 
as they termed the field hands, who, with their cottages away off 
from the house, never rotated outside of their own especial orbit. 
Any advances from these ranks were as strange as the bestowal 
of the baton on the private, the title on the commoner, for such 
things usually went by right of heredity. 

Changed — all changed ! The freedman has absorbed every 
element of those old Southern slaves, and if advanced to the dig- 
nity of voter and citizenship — our legislators and rulers withal — 
they yet have lost all their light-heartedness, the happy-go-lucky 
carelessness that made of them the jolliest race in the world. The 
old masters, as if a heavy responsibility were taken from them, 
would not reshackle a single wrist; rather do they make each 
sable brow welcome to its furrows of care, its anxious lines that 
come with the new existence. But for all that, it is with, tender 
memories of those olden days that we linger over the past, just 



THE FAT AND LEAN OE A SOLDIER S LIFE 1 17 

because it is so completely dead, perhaps. Four generations of 
these sons and daughters of Ham have lived since the war, and 
but a remnant of the old plantation race is left ; but it speaks well 
for former masters, hardly-judged as they were, that in a moral 
point of view the negro has seriously deteriorated; few under- 
standing the meaning of honesty, much less its practice — nor the 
value of an oath, while the marriage bond is a rarity, compara- 
tively speaking ; and above all, the former tie that bound the two 
races in such affectionate relationship has weakened into self- 
interest, suspicion and enmity. Yes ! The old type exists no 
longer ; they fill the unmarked graves in the plantation-burial 
ground ; and take them all in all, we ne'er shall see their like again. 

The plantation we were visiting was a large one and worked 
nearly three hundred slaves. It looked like a village, with its 
barns, granaries, stables, corn-houses, tobacco-houses, wheel- 
wTight and blacksmith shops, cotton-houses, store-houses, spin- 
ning- and weaving-houses, mansion, outbuildings and long rows of 
cabins, each with its small garden in front. 

The house was filled with servants who did nothing but get into 
each other's way, bask in the sunshine, or huddle around the fire 
if it were cold. When asked about their separate duties, one 
said : "I combs Massa's head ;" another, "I rubs Massa's feet at 
night" — and so on through. One had no need to pick up a hand- 
kerchief, for a half dozen pair of hands stood ready to perform 
that service. 

What a change from the watching and waiting in the trenches 
to the freedom of a bachelor-home. Four privates no longer; 
they lived and moved, gentlemen; nay, barons, princes, for they 
were ready to over-rate themselves, reveling in new dignity. How 
they kept the darkies flying on errands! What roaring fires they 
had in those wide chimneys, which held nearly a cart-load of 
wood! What dinners they ordered — "Help yourself to every- 
thing in the house," the most philosophic of relatives had said, 
"Command anything the place affords, for if you do not, the 
Yankees will in a short time." 

And so we did our very best, and made valiant efforts to crowd 
a bushel of food into a peck-measure stomach. Old hams, sweet 
as sugar, oysters, chickens, fish, wine, — Ah well! Words are so 
weak. We considered it only a duty to quaff the cup of pleasure, 
for as the srentle Anacreon has said : 



Il8 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

"Death may come with brow unpleasant, 
May come when least we wish him present, 
And beckon to the sable shore, 
And gravely bid us — drink no more." 

A week passed by; a week filled with such pleasant memories 
that often, months afterwards, when rations were scarce and the 
commissary absent, we would go over the old bills of fare and try 
to forget hunger in a Barmecidean feast. 

A week — one short week — and then came news of a contem- 
plated retreat the next morning. A courier galloped up from the 
colonel with orders to join our companies on the retreat, if well 
enough. So with sad hearts we packed off into bed that night, 
thinking with Mickey Free, "what a cruel thing it is to tear our- 
selves away from the best of living, with the run of the house in 
eating and drinking." 

The dawn had hardly broken when our host and kinsman came 
in with a lighted candle and roused us in a hurry. He was one of 
those nervous, fidgety men who never knew how to meet an emer- 
gency, but always lost presence of mind and ran from it. 

He had determined to retreat, and as no argument or expostu- 
lations nor reasonings could move him, retreat he did. On see- 
ing how fully bent he was upon his course — leaving an estate with 
all its adjuncts, well stocked with cattle of all kinds, utterly 
uncared for, he by reason of his age a non-combatant, his depart- 
ing guests determined to help him and retreat with him. 

Nothing so delights the soul of a private as tearing down and 
pulling up. "Ate," the destroying goddess, should have been his 
divinity. He follows in her train most naturally and devotedly. 

After breakfast, three four-horse wagons, one cart, one two- 
horse carriage and two saddle-horses were brought around to the 
door; then, as the keys were missing, drawers were broken open, 
trunks knocked in and the contents turned upside down on a fast 
gathering pile ; wardrobe-doors were broken, beds tumbled up, 
pictures unswung and leaned against the wall, books taken from 
shelves, while from the attic, where stood a large linen-chest, 
counterpanes, sheets, pillow cases, all the cherished hoardings of 
long years, articles of attire worn by generations now passed 
away, barrels of old letters and old family Bibles, all helped to 
make a heterogeneous heap that was a marvel to behold. Lastly 
came the wine closet, formed by the sloping eaves of the Dutch- 
built house, close under the roof. Bursting open the door, the 
cobwebs were brushed away and the precious liquor carried down 



THH; fat and I.EAN OF A SOI.DIKR S LIFE I IQ 

into the porch. This proved a veritable bonanza of its kind. 
There was a barrel of old cognac, a barrel of peach of old vintage 
of 1800, a barrel of apple-brandy, any number of bottles of 
sherry, hundreds, it seemed; several flat stone jugs of Holland 
gin, a half dozen or so demijohns of whiskey, and several kegs of 
home-made wine — the latter, however, were absolutely scorned. 

"By George!" said one of the number, surveying the collec- 
tion, "I wouldn't change places with the commander-in-chief!" 
And so he continued, drawing up a pitcher of old brandy, "Here's 
to a safe fight through the war, a rich wife at the end of it, and a 
long Hfe to enjoy her money." 

"No trouble about that," answered another, sipping his cognac 
with the air of a connoisseur; "after the war is over so few men 
will be left alive we will be able to pick and choose as we please." 

But these pleasant speculations suddenly came to an end as our 
host entered, with an aspect of perfect dismay and profound 
despair. 

"The darkies have all run away," said he, "and are hiding in the 
woods !" 

"Impossible !" was the rejoinder, in various tones of exclamation 
and surprise. 

We went out and surveyed the scene. They could be seen 
dodging in the bushes, and when called would not answer. 

In their cabins the fires were still burning, but men. women 
and children were nowhere visible. 

Doubtless they would never have left the old plantation if undis- 
turbed, but the thought came in their untutored minds that they 
were to be carried away down South and sold, and so they deter- 
mined to stick to their homes. To be sold to work cotton down 
the Mississippi was their idea of all that was hateful in life. 

So we offered our services and soon had everything taut. There 
was enough to fill the wagons to the top and leave something 
over — kitchen utensils, feather beds, pictures, books, barrels of 
flour, bags of meat, jars of pickles, dried beef, barrels of cider and 
vinegar, two hundred hams, corn, oats, household linen, trunks, 
lard, boxes of pork, — anything and everything! 

The cart carried most of the liquor, the balance being smuggled 
in the different vehicles ; none of this was left behind, not so much 
as a drop. 

At this juncture two negro men and one woman put in an 
appearance and volunteered to go with the expedition ; and of 
course they were accepted. 



120 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

Everything being ready for departure, we soldiers held council 
of war to decide whether it were more expedient to return to the 
regiment or accompany the wagons ; and in solemn conclave it 
was deemed advisable under the circumstances to keep on a little 
way and join the command when its whereabouts were found. 
Other decision than this would have required more virtue and 
patriotism than any private possessed, hence we mounted the 
wagons, found soft places, gave a "hurrah" that caused many a 
dusky head to be pushed through the bushes, and the cavalcade 
started. 

An imposing train — the carriage leading the wa3% the wagons 
piled high, we perched on tlie topmost peaks; the cart following, 
the led horses hitched thereto and bringing up the rear. 

Yes, the start was imposing! Like Massena, we were obliged 
to retreat, but like him, too, we were hauling off with flying colors, 
munitions of war and all the baggage and commissary stores. 

The commander was somewhat proud of his caravan and his 
military tactics, and little suspected — good, easy man — the trials, 
temptations and dangers of traveling two hundred miles (the re- 
treat was to another plantation on the other side of Richmond) and 
through an army with such tempting freight as that wagon-train 
contained. But it was decidedly imposing, for all that. 

Reverse the picture twelve days later, and witness the arrival. 
Two thin horses that could hardly drag their limbs along, pulling 
at a two-horse wagon, only because there was nothing in it to pull 
except a feather bed that had in some unaccountable manner 
escaped the general wreck. Teamsters, negroes, soldiers, all had 
left when the brandy gave out; the latter departing within three 
days, never having tasted water in all that time. As we made it 
a point to treat every Confederate soldier we met, the barrels, 
casks, demijohns, and bottles were soon empty, then — not before 
— we joined our regiment. 

As for my uncle, considerably poorer than when he started, and 
deserted by his command, he sold the remaining stock for a mere 
song, and so reached the end of his journey. 

The family group were drawn up to receive him, and exclaimed, 
as the truth burst upon them — in sorrow, not in anger : 

"What, all ! This all ! Negroes ! Stock ! Furniture ! Liquors ! 
Everything ! All gone !" 

Yes, too true ! One rickety team and one feather bed were 
all that was left of the household effects of one of the finest planta- 
tions in Virginia. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

"running the block." 

It was now May, with all the budding loveliness and delicate 
beauty of this sweetest month of the twelve. The season was, 
however, far advanced this year, and had rather the warmth and 
maturity of June. 

The army lay encamped around Richmond, recovering from the 
fatigue of the toiling march from the Peninsula. They were 
in the best of spirits, too, for the affair at Williamsburg had a 
cheering effect upon the troops, and their morale was never 
better. 

The First Brigade, with rare good luck, had pitched their tents 
in a pleasant grove, at whose foot ran a clear stream of water, 
while lower down was a large branch affording ample means for 
bathing, the greatest of all luxuries to a soldier, and indispensable 
from a sanitary point of view. 

Here for two weeks we remained in a state of positive happi- 
ness ; rations were abundant and of good quality, a half pound of 
meat, hard-tack, coffee, sugar and beans ; and there were no drills 
except dress parade, and an occasional practice by the company 
in skirmishing. The days were spent in perfect abandon, lying 
on our backs in the shade under the trees, and whistling for want 
of thought. Then again new uniforms had just been issued to 
us — good, serviceable gray pants and jackets, with metal buttons, 
also coarse gray shirts and drawers, yarn socks and brogans. 

We had long past ceased caring for dress, and that man was 
brave indeed who would essay a white shirt and collar in camp. 
Questioned in every conceivable manner, ridiculed, jeered at by 
every one he met, made the butt of a thousand witticisms, in sheer 
desperation he would be forced to remove the obnoxious gar- 
ments and return to the primitive gray and check. The laughter- 
loving, fun-loving army, like all institutions, had strong opinions 
of its own, and a code of fashion which was as unalterable as the 
Medes and Persians. Any gray of the ranks who in camp aspired 
to cast his chrysalis and bloom into a butterfly might as easily 
have stormed a fort alone as defied those mighty weapons of 
raillery and ridicule. Such a simple thing as a tall beaver hat 
once came near throwing the brigade into fits; such an article 



122 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

as an umbrella would have raised a regular cyclone of wrath and 
doomed its unfortunate possessor to an early grave, provided 
banter and satire could have killed him. And we all remember 
— oh, how tenderly, as we cherish all such memories of Stonewall 
Jackson! — how when he once donned a showy new uniform 
which had been presented to him, brave with stars and gilt, and 
gone outside his tent, his men opened upon him with such shouts 
and exclamations of amazement and wonder that he who never 
flinched under the deadliest fire, who would have led the for- 
lornest hope without a tremor, flushed, pulled his hat over his 
eyes, reentered his quarters, and when next seen wore the old 
rusty, faded gray, with its missing buttons and its gilt tarnished 
almost black by sun, rain and storms. 

This spirit was not confined to the army by any means ; citizens 
were sometimes as freely criticized as soldiers in their camps. No 
matter how hard it rained or snowed or hailed, any man who efifem- 
inately ventured out under an umbrella was invited by every little 
boy and every soldier to "come out of it," asked anxiously about 
his health, or how long it took for water to dissolve him. 

A shining new overcoat, showing by its length its recent make, 
for such was the new style of cut, was ever greeted with "Mister, 
J see your feet !" While a gaily colored necktie, a conspicuously 
displayed handkerchief, or any article of attire calculated to 
attract attention, invariably paid the penalty. Citizens were the 
soldier's own piece de resistance, his to jeer, to laugh at, to com- 
ment upon whenever he passed his little jokes around, and be sure 
he never hesitated to say behind their back what he greatly pre- 
ferred to say to their faces. Next in order was the quartermaster, 
or boom-proof, department, upon which was launched volleys of 
running fire; and woe to any one — citizen, quartermaster, commis- 
sary or cavalryman — who took offense thereat ; it was all that was 
needed to fill the adversary's cup of happiness to the brim; then, 
for the nonce, better for the poor soul had he ne'er been born. 

Of course, when visiting Richmond, the soldiers made their 
toilets as carefully as the Simple Simon dons his Sunday suit to 
go to meeting with his Mary Jane ; cleaning and furbishing, pol- 
ishing and beautifying generally, but not the slightest display of 
vanity or fashion was ventured upon. 

While in camp we witnessed for the first time a ''drumming- 
out." Two soldiers who had deserted were caught, tried and 
sentenced to be "drummed-out" of their regiment. The brigade 
to which they belonged was drawn up in line, as if upon dress 



RUNNING the; block I23 

parade, the ranks being in open order. The adjutant advanced 
along the Hne until reaching the center. He faced to the front, 
stepped forward several paces, halted, saluted the colonel, then, 
turning to the regiment, took a paper from his sash and proceeded 
to read the charges and specifications against the accused; after 
which came the findings of the court martial. Sheathing his sword 
he retired; and from the left of the line the two prisoners were 
marched twice up and down the extended ranks, a guard on either 
side, with a drummer and a fifer in front playing "The Rogue's 
March." 

One of them, a young fellow, seemed to feel the shame of it 
keenly. He hung his head and the hot flush and deadly paleness 
alternated on his face. The other brazened it out, and proved 
himself of such hardened fibre that disgrace, if he felt it, made no 
outward impression. 

The heads of both were closely shaven, and though their 
appearance was ludicrous in the extreme, not a smile was seen 
along the entire ranks. It seemed worse than a funeral and more 
solemn, for it meant the burial of manhood and self-respect. After 
they had been marched up and down twice they were brought back 
to the center, halted, and, branded in their souls as it were, carrying- 
each his stigma, were permitted to go their way. 

This proved the first and last instance of "drumming-out" that 
ever occurred in our army, for such kind of punishment met with 
so little favor from officers and men that it was universally con- 
demned. This unexampled public degradation, they reasoned, 
would kill all self-respect, and in nine cases out of ten ruin a 
man's future entirely. No gallant conduct or desperate bravery in 
the field could ever restore the honor that was lost. Dead to all 
incentive, utterly paralyzed to all exertion, the man would be sent 
adrift in the world, about as well ticketed to moral destruction as 
he could well be ; for when you break a man's spirit and take 
all hope away, you do your very worst for him, both in this world 
and the next. It is all over with him. 

Then, again, men were too scarce to be turned out of the army 
to make citizens, perhaps criminals, or both — or worse yet, deser- 
ters to the enemy, thereby increasing their strength just in pro- 
portion as ours was weakened. 

The bullet and barrel shirt were substituted. 

Orders now came to move the brigade nearer to Richmond, 
and with many a regretful sigh we left the pleasant grove, and 



124 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

after a few hours' march, pitched our tents in an open field about 
two miles from the "Seven-hilled" city. 

The old routine of camp existence was only varied by running 
the blockade into the city. This was no easy task, as the cordon 
of guards enveloped the place and picketed every road, with strict 
orders to stop every soldier without a pass and send him back to 
his regiment. There, in the enforced solitude of a guard-tent, 
which on a warm summer's day was only a little less hot than the 
furnace-room of a steamboat, he could spend days bemoaning his 
sins, or rather his bad luck, for the former implies contrition, and 
in this case the offender only wanted the chance to try again. 
The truth is, it required sharpness, good fortune and address all 
combined, to avoid detection, and even after a soldier had reached 
the city, it was a jump — as the old saying is — "from the frying 
pan into the fire." The provost guard patrolled the streets, and 
woe to any poor soul who fell into their clutches; he was igno- 
miniously hurled into Castle Thunder for the day, and afterwards 
forwarded to his company; there his arrival was signaled by 
derisive cheers from his comrades, who, having once been caught 
in the same trap, were delighted to have others in like predica- 
ment. 

The soldiers sometimes wrote their own passes and counter- 
signed them with the name of the colonel and generals. But that 
ruse failed to be effectual, for officers well versed in all the wiles 
of soldiers' strategy, as well as detectives who could tell at a 
glance whether or not the countersigns were genuine, scrutinized 
each pass with as much care as an expert does the signature of 
witnesses in a disputed will case. 

On one occasion two of Company A (myself and comrade), with 
anything but tender consciences, lay awake at night trying to 
devise some plan that would obtain free ingress to the city, keep 
us unmolested while there, and bring us safely out. The result 
was, that after so many hours spent in sifting the pros and cons, 
it settled down to a single, plain, stubborn fact, that unless we 
could get the bona-fide signatures of the general commanding, 
all efforts would be in vain. That was a bright idea, surely, as 
bright indeed as the young rodent in the fable, who moved in a 
congress of rats, "that the cat should be belled." So with us it 
was who was to "bell the cat," and how? 

We drew straws for the unlucky one of the two, and Walter 
Addison drew the short straw, and was thereafter left to his own 
devices; and from the depths of down-reaching ruminations. 



RUNNING THE BLOCK I25 

which he feared would unsettle his brain, evolved the following 
letter: 

'*My Dear Aunt : 

"As requested, I hereby send you the autograph of our Com- 
mander-in-chief, General Johnston." 

Then, going boldly to his tent, he asked the orderly for admit- 
tance, for with General Johnston the private could often obtain an 
audience when officers high in rank were kept in waiting. The sol- 
dier handed the General his letter, who with one quick glance at his 
petitioner, seized his pen and wrote his name at the bottom. To 
salute and get out of the tent was the work of a second ; and then 
the young rascal ran as fast as his legs could carry him to his 
confrere in camp. Together in banded iniquity, we rubbed out 
the words in pencil and inscribed others, so that the paper read : 

"Pass in and out of Richmond, at will, the bearer and friend 
for two weeks. "J. E. Johnston, 

"General Commanding." 

On that pass we went in and out, and out and in, till the very 
stones in the road knew us; so virtue is ever its own reward. 

However, emboldened by success, we overdid the matter, and 
remaining in the city on a regular visit of several days, were con- 
fined in the guard-house for nearly a week. But we kept our 
secret and our precious piece of paper. 

Our rations for the month still continued good and wholesome ; 
a pound of flour, half a pound of bacon, a quarter of a pound of 
rice, sugar and cofifee, with now and then an allowance of beans 
and onions. 

The health of the men was excellent, the discipline of the 
troops perfect; and the army had a profound confidence in 
General Johnston. No private soldier in the ranks feared for the 
result in the impending struggle which all knew was close at hand. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
The battle of seven pines. 

Toward the last of this month (May, 1862), a bolt like that 
hurled from Jupiter's hand burst so suddenly and unexpectedly 
that it startled, as with an electric shock, the people of both sec- 
tions, and filled the graveyards and hospitals with dead and dying. 

To give the reader an idea of the mighty events that had shaped 
themselves in this dangerous fashion, I will present a brief outline 
of the events that had happened up to this time. 

After the affair at Williamsburg between McClellan's advance 
and Longstreet's rear-guard, the Yankee army followed Johnston 
in a leisurely manner toward Richmond until it reached the 
Chickahominy River, when McClellan divided his legions ; a step 
which nearly involved its destruction. The right wing swung 
around toward the north, striking the Chickahominy at New 
Bridge, directly in front of Richmond. The left, keeping to the 
south, reached the river at Bottom Bridge, thirteen miles below, 
and camped in that vicinity on May the twentieth, 1862. 

The bulk of the Rebels were at Mechanicsville, a little village 
about five miles from Richmond, and were easily driven back by 
a simple shelling. On the 21st a Yankee division crossed the 
Chickahominy, occupied the high ground, and made two recon- 
naissances, one reaching below the Seven Pines to within four 
miles of Richmond. The rebels were nowhere found in force, 
and no traces of defensive works were discovered. 

The two corps of Keyes and Heintzelman were sent across 
the river to take up their position near Seven Pines. 

Johnston in his retreat had neglected to tear up the railroad 
from Richmond to Pamunkey. He had indeed partially destroyed 
the bridge by which it crossed the Chickahominy, but by the 26th 
of May the road was in operation to the river, and the bridge was 
nearly reconstructed. There was no military reason why Mc- 
Clellan should not have crossed the Chickahominy and united his 
forces and fallen upon Richmond with his whole strength, but 
with his superb army of over 100,000 he greatly over-rated the 
number opposed to him. 

The entire Confederate force only showed 54,000 men all told. 
He let the opportunity to take the rebel Capital slip. 



the: EATTLE of SE:VEN pines 127 

On May 28th the army of jNIcClellan was thus posted; the 
corps of Heintzelman and Keyes were on the west side of the 
Chickahominy, massed checker-wise for the distance of six miles 
along Williamsburg road. 

The stronger corps of Sumner, Franklin and Porter, forming 
the right wing, were stretched some eighteen miles along the east 
bank of the river. The two wings formed an acute-angle triangle 
of unequal sides, the apex being at Bottom Bridge. The distance 
from center to center of the wings was barely five miles, but 
between them there was the Chickahominy, across which there 
was then no practical passage except the Bottom Bridge. If the 
left wing of the Northern army was assailed in force, the right 
wing could only come to its aid by a march of over twenty miles, 
which, in the condition of the roads in the springtime, could not 
be made with artillery, and certainly not under two days. (See 
General Johnston's Report; General McClellan's Report.) 

For a hostile commander with anything like an equal force, 
two courses were open. He might throw himself upon the 
weaker left, with hope of annihilating it before assistance could 
be obtained from the other wing, or he could assail the extremity 
of the right wing, threatening its weakly guarded line of com- 
munication with West Point. 

General Johnston, at the end of May, tried the first and most 
obvious plan, and failed in his design by mere accident. 

General Lee, a month later, essayed the second plan and suc- 
ceeded. 

On May 30th General Johnston learned the military position of 
the enemy. He made the great mistake of supposing that one 
corps instead of two was across the river, and supposed that he 
had but twenty thousand to deal with, whereas the actual number 
was something over thirty thousand men. 

The attack was to be made with the four divisions of Huger, 
Smith, Longstreet, and D. H. Hill, numbering about fifty thou- 
sand. 

During the afternoon and night a violent storm swept over that 
region. The channel of the Chickahominy was already full to 
the brim, and the stream, swollen by the rain, would have pre- 
vented any aid being sent from the right wing to the left. 

The attack was to be made by the four divisions simultaneously 
at day-break on the 31st of May. The storm delayed the move- 
ment of the troops, but by eight o'clock Longstreet was in posi- 



128 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

tion waiting for Huger to come up, but he did not make his 
appearance. Soon after noon Hill began his attack, Casey's 
division of Keyes's corps was three-quarters of a mile in advance 
of the Seven Pines ; its pickets being thrown a third of a mile 
farther up toward the edge of a wood. 

The Confederates burst through the screen, forced back the 
pickets to the entrenchments, where a short stand was made, but 
Longstreet was now pressing upon the Northern center and left; 
and Rodes's Alabama Brigade charged. After an hour and a 
half of stubborn resistance, the Seven Pines was abandoned with 
all Casey's division camp. The Yankees fell back to a belt of 
woods, where Heintzelman succeeded in rallying most of the men 
of the two divisions, who formed a firm front and poured in a fire 
so deadly that the assault was checked. 

Night was now coming on and the Federals fell back a mile to 
their entrenched camp, unmolested. 

Meanwhile the battle was going on with desperate fury a mile 
away, and McClellan, on the opposite side, directed Sumner to 
cross over on the two pontoon bridges he had just constructed, 
and take part in the fight. The river had begun to rise and the 
bridges were almost impassable, many of the timbers being already 
floating. After several hours of hard work, Sedgwick's division 
succeeded in crossing over the shaking bridge, and dragging his 
artillery by hand through the swamp, he arrived just in time to 
save the left wing from utter rout. He made a vigorous charge 
late in the evening and arrested the Southern advance. General 
Johnston being wounded about this time, all offensive movements 
were summarily stopped. 

After Johnston was disabled he was succeeded by General R. E. 
Lee. 

Huger's failure to come up lost the day.* 

On the 30th of May, early in the morning, Addison and myself 
were detailed to go to Richmond, with strict orders to return that 
night. About noon it commenced to rain — a regular pour, filling 
the streets and rendering the crossings nearly impassable. We 
waited patiently for some rift in the clouds, until the lamps were 
lit, shining dimly through the blinding rain ; and then, seeing how 

*The Official Records state McClellan's loss as 800 killed, 3,627 wounded, 1,222 
missing ; in all, 5,739 men. 

There was no official loss on the other side published. Longstreet reports the 
casualties in his command near 3,000; Smith says his division suffered 1,233; 
Hill probably lost 2,000 — which would make Johnston's fully 6,000. 



THE BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES I29 

useless was the hope of any cessation, we started upon our jour- 
ney campward ; but hardly had we gone several squares before 
the storm became so violent that we were obliged to seek the 
Monumental Hotel for shelter. There we waited until after ten 
o'clock, 

A large crowd of officers were sitting around the big table in 
the center of the room, criticising and discussing the conduct of 
the war, as every man, woman and child thought it their first 
special province in life to do. If babies could only have talked 
about that time, they would have deemed themselves fully up to the 
occasion. 

While each had his own pet idea on the subject, all agreed that 
the present rain would effectually put a stop to military operations 
for days to come ; for it would flood the streams, render the roads 
impassable for artillery, wet the ammunition, and prevent the 
moving of trains. All this sounded just as pleasant to the poor 
fellows who cherished an antipathy to having their heads blown 
off by a shell as a reprieve to a gallows-bird. So we were in a 
pleasant frame for listening, when an old officer, with a flowing 
white beard, came up to the party and gave his views upon the 
subject — views which impressed his listeners all the more, because 
they were recognized as the result of accurate information and 
solid judgment. 

"The Chickahominy," he said, "rises in the swampy uplands 
about twenty miles northwest of Richmond, and flows about fifty 
miles parallel to, and nearly midway between, the James and York. 
The operations of McClellan embrace that portion of the stream 
from Bottom Bridge on the south, where it crosses the Williams- 
burg turnpike, to Malon Bridge, fifteen miles farther, at which 
point it is traversed by the Fredericksburg Railroad. Richmond 
lies nearly in the center, and about six miles distant from the 
stream. At this section the river flows through a wooded swamp 
a few hundred feet below the level of the surrounding country. In 
dry weather the stream is a mere rivulet, but a moderate shower 
fills the channel, which is about a dozen yards wide and some four 
feet deep ; while a continuous rain floods the swamp and overflows 
the adjacent low-lands. These bottoms are intersected and 
seamed with deep ditches, and even when not overflowed, are so 
soft as to be impassable for cavalry and artillery. The stream 
could only be crossed on bridges, with here and there fords pass- 
able onl}^ in dry weather." 

9 - - 



130 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvI^Y YANK 

"Then we hardly need fear an immediate attack, think you. 
Colonel ?" asked one of the group. 

"Oh, no. It would be an impossibility at present," replied the 
officer; "for this spring of 1862 has been unusually rainy, and 
the channel is not only full to the brim, but the swamp and bot- 
toms are all flooded, — any shower can do that now. Infantry 
might possibly pick their way through the swamp, but horses 
would sink to their girths and artillery trains to their axles." 

"Could not bridges be put up?" queried some one. 

"Not readily," was the answer, "for it would be necessary to 
build them above the level of the highest floods, and provide them 
with long approaches through the swamps ; hence we can easily 
understand that this narrow Chickahominy is a greater obstacle, 
with its bordering swamps and mirey lowlands, than a broad river 
might be, across which forces could be carried in boats, or over 
which a pontoon bridge could be thrown in a few hours. 

"And so, gentlemen," added the speaker, as he slowly lighted 
his pipe and was about to walk away, "we may surely make our 
minds easy on that score, for a while at least." 

We eagerly listened to every word, and discovering the lateness 
of the hour, now rose to go. The tempest was at its height, but 
further dalliance was impossible; so buttoning our overcoats 
tightly, we set off for camp. It was as dark as pitch, but traveling 
along a broad turnpike one could not well be lost. We, however, 
plunged in mire up to our knees, with a big lump of mud on each 
foot and a stream of water pouring from each hat rim straight 
down the backbone beneath it. It was not a pleasant walk, — we 
had known better, — but after all, is there not a kind of enjoyment 
in breasting- the elements? An indescribable exhilaration, which 
Imgers in our natures as a faint trace of savage ancestry, — the 
wild man, not the monke}^ Perhaps so ; at any rate the sugges- 
tion can go for what it is worth. 

About midnight we reached camp and by instinct, for we had 
no other guide, found our tents. Wrapping up in a blanket, we 
lay down on the muddy ground, with the last sweet thought that 
the deluge would put a stop to drills, parades and battles, and 
permit us to sleep the next day in peace. 

But it seemed as if our eyes had scarcely closed in slumber 
before the camp was rudely awakened by the light of swinging 
lanterns and the voice of the sergeant crying out : "Get up ! Get 
up! Put on your accoutrements, pack up your knapsacks and 
fall in right away!" From without came the warning drum, 



The batti^e of seven pines 131 

beating the long roll. We had no light, and groped about as best 
we could ; but in five minutes we had packed up, and were feeling 
for our places in the forming line. By this time the driving rain 
had sobered down into a gentle drizzle. 

Soon the ranks were established and dressed ; and the ordnance 
sergeant, coming along, distributed by the light of his lantern 
sixty rounds of cartridges to each man ; forty to go in his car- 
tridge-box, which was all that they could hold, and the remaining 
twenty to be placed in his haversack. This looked like business. 
Following in his footsteps came the commissary sergeant, putting 
in each soldier's haversack three days' rations. 

Yes, we were in for it now ! That, every soldier knew. 

Our work was all cut out and there was nothing left for us to 
do but face the music. 

Thus with the knowledge came the thought into every soldier's 
mind, ''Will I be alive this time to-morrow night, or will I be lying 
stark and stiff, with my sightless eyes blindly staring toward 
heaven? If I should come out, will it be unhurt; or with a slight 
wound, enough to give me a furlough and send me away rejoic- 
ing? Or" — dreadful thought — "will the leaden missile shatter my 
bones, tear through my yielding flesh, take from me a limb and 
send me maimed through life, or lay me on a bed suffering, 
there slowly to linger unto death?" It was an interesting prob- 
lem which he was mentally computing, and it took all the man's 
philosophy to enable him to wait for the answer. And it was not 
altogether a selfish one, either; the deepest sting ofttimes is in 
the thought that others suffer in his misfortune or his death — 
others whose happiness is dearer to him than his own. 

It is only by lying amid danger, being in battles again and 
again, passing through a score of skirmishes, scouting, — a vidette 
in an unknown land, when 

"Death rides in every passing breeze 
And lurks in every flower," — 

that the soldier becomes utterly fearless and holds his "taking 
off" in indifference, if not in disdain. We had not yet reached 
that point, and so when the brigade, in obedience to the order. ^ 
swung itself to the right and struck the Williamsburg road, there 
was no reckless sound of voices or laughter, but a solemn, 
thoughtful silence. The marching was awful ; several small 
streams that crossed the road, now swollen by the torrent into 



132 JOHNNY RKB AND BILI^Y YANK 

rushing creeks, we had to ford; some of them were breast-high, 
and we held our cartridge-boxes and haversacks way above our 
heads to preserve them from the water. But we did not mind it, 
neither did we complain, for hot work was waiting for us, that 
would soon dry the wringing garments or make us heedless of 
them. 

About five miles from Richmond the brigade came to a halt; 
it was now broad day, but a gentle drizzle obscured everything in 
a mist; the men sat on both sides of the road, each exercising 
his inventive genius in improving a seat of a stone, fence-rail, or 
an old log, — anything to keep out of the wet. 

After moving down another hundred yards or so the regiment 
was again halted, and orders were given to get breakfast, by hook 
or crook. Some few fires were started, but it required infinite 
patience to kindle a flame, with everything streaming with damp- 
ness ; however, by persistent blowing and careful nursing enough 
smoke was encouraged to boil the cofTee and fry the bacon, then 
over our pipes we discussed the situation, for up to this time we 
had not heard a single gun. Devoutly we hoped it might be a 
false alarm, though reason told us what a vain hope this was. 
I have heard of soldiers whose "bowels yearned'' for a fight, but 
such "bowels" were not inside of my anatomy. In an hour or 
two the rolling of the drums brought the soldiers into line, and 
continuing our march, we halted two miles farther on and lay at 
rest. 

It was now high noon by the town clock in our old home, if 
we could have heard it striking ; the rain had ceased, the fog had 
lifted, and only the clouds still hung low their somber curtains, 
hiding the heavens' clear blue and making the scene dark and 
dismal. 

"What did this mean?" we asked ourselves! Had some plan 
of the enemy's miscarried so that they failed to attack? None 
dreamed that we were to storm the works of the enemy, believing 
the while our role was strictly on the defensive. But we were on 
the wrong track it seemed. 

At last it came ! A little after twelve o'clock a gun sounded 
on our left, followed directly after by a peal of artillery. Hardly 
had the roar died away when was heard the rattling of small-arms. 
Now battery after battery joined in the chorus, as if the World 
and Satan had concluded to join in the battle and fight it out. 
Was ever greater noise made anywhere, not excepting Pande- 
monium ? What grand and awful discord, as musketrv and can- 



the; battle of seven pines 133 

non's roar blent together ! See ! The smoke — dark purple, ris- 
ing like mist from the gromid and spreading upward, and those 
little puffs of white, which the bursting shells leave in the sky to 
dissolve slowly in the gray ether ! 

We moved forward and bore to the right; evidently destined 
to be held in the reserve. At four o'clock the pounding was 
going on as heavily as ever. Still no sign of action on our part, 
so we began to hope that there were too many men on our side 
to need us, when just as this juncture an aide-de-camp came up in 
a wild gallop, his clothes spattered with mud from head to foot. 
He hardly stopped to utter some words to the commanding offi- 
cer ere he was off like a flash. 

■'Fall in, men!" cried the colonel. "Forward by the left flank! 
March ! Double-quick !" And for a mile we went with a rush. 
As we approached the scene of action, the crash of musketry was 
appalling. Long streams of wounded made their appearance on 
their way to the rear, in every species of mutilation ; some borne 
on stretchers, others swung in blankets, from whose folds blood 
and gore dropped in horrible exudations, staining the ground and 
crimsoning the budding grass. Still others were carried in their 
comrades' arms. Many more were slightly wounded and could 
walk, their hands pressed to their wounds, or hobble slowly 
along with a musket for a crutch ; but their faces bore a contented 
look, feeling sure that a leave of absence stood ready waiting for 
them, and because they had escaped so well when matters might 
have gone so much against them. It was a sickening sight on the 
whole, and tried the nerves of the men to the utmost. 

As we approached more closely to the scene of conflict, with 
its many terrors increasing at every step, the shells bursting in 
our midst, we beheld a sight that proved there was but "one step 
from the sublime to the ridiculous ;" and even in this field of hor- 
rors, with the curtain rolled up (for we were all hurrying to play 
our parts in the bloody drama), such was the farce enacted before 
our eyes that the regiment burst into a peal of heart}^, unre- 
strained laughter, that must have sounded as much out of place 
as tones of merriment in the torture chamber of the Holy Inqui- 
sition. 

The object of our mirth was a soldier slightly wounded in the 
arm — the skin scratched off, perhaps ; but he had kind, sympa- 
thizing friends, who said unto him, "where thou goest, I will go," 
and that was out of the reach of murderous shells. Two sup- 
ported him tenderly, one on each side, and two more, equally kind 



134 JOHNNY RKB and BILI^Y YANK 

and sympathizing, followed after, the one lovingly sustaining 
the wounded man's hat and the other affectionately bearing his 
musket. The countenance of the sufferer was twisted into a look 
of supreme anguish ; while the assiduity and devotion of the four 
comrades was something beautiful to behold ; sooth, they were 
ready to fight for the honor of helping him — and, if it must be 
said, for nothing else. Ah ! It was a most touching sight, and 
to a man the regiment responded to the emotions of the hour. 

"He who fights and runs away — " 

Such was the philosophy of our heroes ; but they broke and 
ran as the jibes and hearty laughter from the whole line reached 
them, relegating themselves to safe arcades. Later on in the 
war, all such poltroons were seized and placed in front of the ad- 
vancing line. 

The brigade, by order, bore obliquely to the right, and then, 
without stopping to form, — Kemper commanding the brigade, — 
charged across the field, with a battery enfilading the line. Men 
dropped at every step we took, but nothing stopped the momen- 
tum and we crossed the field at a run. 

After we had reached the vicinity of the wood-pile, where stood 
a big barn and several outworks that had been thrown up by the 
enemy and recently captured by our forces, we could see the 
camp of Casey's division, not a hundred yards from us. The 
shelling had now become terrific. We double-quicked it across 
the field in plain view of the foe, who had trained upon us several 
batteries located on the edge of the camp ; and shell, shrapnel, 
round shot and grape screamed about and around us. 

Now was the time to form in a line ! Instead, we kept on 
without changing formation — "not but the soldiers knew some 
one had blundered." In fours we advanced, or in other words, 
we pushed toward the enemy like a lance, instead of spreading 
out in a line. Company A of the Seventeenth was in advance, 
the lance-head of the column. As we approached the wood-pile, 
the musketry joined the artillery, and to go into that fire-swept 
camp seemed like entering the jaws of hell itself — 

"A looming bastion, fringed with fire." 

"Why do we not form a line of battle?" the rank and file cried 
as the men began to drop. In column as we were, none could 
fire their muskets! What did it mean? Who was responsible 
for so lamentable an error? But the onward gait was kept up by 



THE battle; of sE;vii;N pines 135 

the column. "Forward ! Forward !" cried the officers, wildly 
waving their swords above their heads. "Don't stop, men! 
Charge right into the camp!" And right into the camp we did 
charge — burst in the midst of it, with the Rebel cheer ringing high 
above the uproar of the guns. As we dashed in between the 
wood-pile and redoubts we passed a Rebel four-gun battery de- 
serted, every single horse killed, and the living remnant of men 
forced to seek shelter elsewhere from the terrible concentrated 
fire that swept through the camp like an iron and leaden rain; 
all save one little boy, "the powder monkey," as they called his 
genus, who cowered behind the wheel of one of the guns, with 
eyes protruding, hands clasped, teeth clenched, and face wearing 
a look of horrified fright, — face so white, so startling in its terror, 
that it haunted me for days after. 

As we passed the barn and got in among the tents, the tempest 
of war was undeniably frightful, its severity beyond belief. 
Every deadly projectile which could take away human life and 
maim and disfigure lusty manhood was showered upon us. The 
air was alive with their coming, and shrill and shrieking with 
their passing. 

"The mailed Mars did on his altar sit, 
Up to the ears in blood." 

We saw no enemy, but the whole of Casey's division, some 
eight thousand strong, had formed around their camp in the 
shape of a half moon, and poured a converging fire at the attack- 
ing Rebels. 

It is sickening to the heart to recall what followed. A result 
that could not have been otherwise. 

Mixed up, mingled, crowded as we were amid the breast- 
works, barns and wood-pile, the brigade bunched in a mass, unable 
to fire a gun, its organization became a mob. Our splendid bri- 
gade of three thousand muskets, that stretched out fully five 
hundred yards in line of battle, could have carried the camp by 
storm or retreated with comparatively little loss; but owing to 
the incompetency and criminal ignorance of our commanding 
officer, it was thrown into a contracted space, without order and 
without form, with never a chance to fire a shot, and there butch- 
ered like cattle ! 

It was shameful ! 

While from the half circle on the other side the enemy were 
raining a feu d'enfer upon the struggling mass, our men fell 



o 



6 JOHNNY REB AND BILEY Y'ANK 



in groups. The noise of bullets ripping through the canvas of 
the tents added to the horrors of the day. Men screamed as the 
balls struck them down. The officers shouted out unmeaning 
cries. The flag went down. Morrill, the color-bearer, the 
tallest man in the regiment, sank to the earth. Capt. Fairfax 
caught him as he fell, in his left arm, and with his right hand took 
the colors, waved them a moment, and handed them to Corporal 
Digges, who dropped prone on the ground. A private grasped 
them, raised the staff, and in a second he sank face downward, a 
bullet through his heart. Another gallant private, Harper, lifted 
the flag and bore it through the day. 

In five minutes seventy-four officers and men out of the Seven- 
teenth Regiment fell. A blind rush was made for shelter, and the 
soldiers scrambled over the breastworks or hurried behind the 
wood-pile. The rifle-pits, built by the enemy to protect their 
camp, proved a blessed refuge — nay, our very salvation ; for to 
have attempted running the g*auntlet across that open field in our 
rear would have been to rattle dice with death. Few would have 
lived to tell the tale. 

Not many of us could recall distinctly all the combined hor- 
rors of that useless massacre. The chief incident, and the one 
fully distinct, was that on rushing back to the protection of the 
redoubt I stopped to help the color-bearer, Morrill, and had 
raised him half way up, when two more balls struck him and 
passed through his body with a sudden thud, and he sank back with 
a deep groan. He had been married only a few days before, at 
the bedside of a dying sister, and had left both bride and sister, im- 
mediately after the ceremony, to take part in the battle. 

Safe behind good shelter, there was time to look around and 
collect our scattered senses — time to breathe freely and hold our- 
selves in readiness for what was yet to come, that is, if the day was 
fated to hold further horrors. We learned that Rodes's Alabama 
brigade, earlier in the evening, had stormed Casey's division 
camp, and with such vim. and so sudden a dash, that the enemy 
were driven from their tents on a run. Casey, however, reformed 
his men on the outer edge behind an abattis, which with wise pre- 
caution he had constructed for just such an emergency, and from 
thence he rained a torrent of fire upon every force that undertook 
an attack. He could not reoccupy his camp, but he could keep 
us from holding it; consequently, when Kemper's brigade came 
rushing on in column crowded into so small a space, he converged 
his whole fire upon it and caught it in a death trap. 



THK BATTLE 01'' SEVEN PINES I37 

The Fourth Alabama, of Rodes's brigade, had been forced to 
retire from the charge and seek shelter behind the works. They 
had witnessed our useless rush and vain sacrifice, and had we 
charged in line as many as were in the vicinity would have rallied 
and advanced with us. 

We had listened to some heavy firing in our day, had heard 
the music of many a missile singing through the air, but never 
before had there been anything that could compare with that of 
Seven Pines. There was such a ceaseless pour of shot and shell 
that at least twenty men were struck while climbing over the 
breastworks. The bullets hissed like snakes around us, and that 
without a moment's intermission. Every second they hit the 
works and buried themselves in the damp earth; or striking 
higher would scrape the top and send the mud spattering over us. 
The soldiers of the different regiments and brigades were cower- 
ing beneath the parapet ; but few had the curiosity or daring to 
lift their heads over the works and take aim at the running line of 
fire that showed where the foe lay concealed. Indeed, it was a 
dangerous experiment. Two men, an Alexandrian and an Ala- 
bamian, glanced over the parapet for a second and both fell back 
dead. I was looking at the former, Higdon, of Co. H, as he lifted 
up his head to look, and saw the red spot come on his forehead. 

The very sky seemed alive with little fiery devils, who sang 
their songs, each in its own tone, as they flew over the works. 
The canister sounded more direful than any; and when they 
struck the earthworks the bravest would cower more closely to 
the ground. A life insurance agent could have taken out any 
number of policies just then, though whether his business would 
have been a money-making one is open to discussion. 

For fully an hour did this metal rain keep up; for fully an hour 
did we lie there and listen to the flying projectiles striking the 
earthworks ; for fully an hour did we congratulate ourselves upon 
being able to hide behind such friendly shelter ; for fully an hour 
did we thank our stars that we were alive at all. A soldier's first 
thought at the close of a battle is always a selfish feeling of thank- 
fulness at his own escape; after that other emotions can find 
place. 

Behind the works where we were, ooze and mire were so deep 
that it reached to our waist-belts. Many of the enemy had been 
killed just here, by Rodes's men, and had found graves without 
burial, for their corpses had sunk beneath the surface. We could 



138 JOHNNY RKB AND BIIvLY YANK 

feel that we were standing on bodies, but the danger all were in 
prevented any remarks and excited no feeling whatsoever. 

Around the barn and breastworks the water lay in pools, into 
which some of our wounded had fallen and were drowned. The 
body of one of our comrades was examined ; it showed no mortal 
wound, but having dropped face downward in the water, he had 
suffocated — his mouth and throat were filled with liquid mud. 

Late in the evening, when the enemy's fire had at first slack- 
ened, then died away, Colonel Corse jumped to the open space 
and sung out for the Seventeenth to form. No regiment in the 
army ever furnished more substantial proof of splendid discipline 
than did his when we responded with alacrity to the order. 
After such a terrible shock and fearful loss of life, it yet retained 
its morale. Its men came running from behind their different 
places of concealment, none lingering, and in ten minutes were 
formed into line. I got hold of a drum left by the enemy, 
intending to beat a pas de charge, but the sticks were missing 
and I threw the useless instrument away. I might as well say 
here that this was the first and only drum I ever saw left on a 
battle-field, though in every war picture a shattered drum always 
occupies a prominent position, along with the overturned caisson 
and dead horse. Then the order was given to guide by the col- 
ors, and we advanced again through the camp — no longer a mob, 
but a crack organization, free to return tlie enemy's fire. The 
regiment went at a double-quick time, aiming to reach the shelter of 
the abattis ; and there we arrived, panting and breathless, while 
not a hostile shot had greeted us. Breaking our way through 
the fallen trees of this obstruction we kept on some distance in 
the woods beyond, but sav/ no vestige of the enemy, who had re- 
treated, carrying off their wounded. As Rodes had had it all his 
own way at first, there must have been many hurt. 

We could easily see where the line had stood that fought us 
so relentlessly, for torn cartridges and useless muskets lay scat- 
tered around. Doubtless it was fine fun to stand and shoot us, 
crowding between the forts and wood-piles. The war did not 
ofTer many such chances, and not a man of them in after years had 
need to regret that he did not improve iliis shining hour. 

As it was nearly dark we were halted just on the verge of the 
camp, in the low ground, and of course half under water. Here 
we remained for fully an hour, up to our knees in the black mire, 
suffering, be it said, the peculiar trials of Tantalus. After all the 
loss of life, and the hardships we had borne in the attempt to se- 



THD BATTI^K OF SE;vEN PINES I39 

cure and capture this camp and to hold it, we were not allowed 
any of the spoils of war which we considered legitimately our 
due. Here we were, just on its edge, half buried in the mud, with 
nothing to do, the enemy safely miles away across the Chicka- 
hominy, standing hungry, thirsty and wet and passive, while 
new troops, who had never fired a gun, were brought in under our 
very eyes and turned loose to help themselves at will! Was it 
not enough to make a saint swear? We fairly ached to enter 
that camp, and could have rapped the heads of those marauding 
Rebels over yonder, with a will. 

It seems that the Yankees were at dinner when the Third Ala- 
bama crowded in upon them as uninvited guests. 

A member of the Seventeenth, Hector Eaches, disappeared 
that evening most mysteriously and never made an appearance 
until next morning. With that instinct that marks the true sol- 
dier — with that intuition which is born in some men, he had spent 
the night in Casey's camp, and conscientiously looked after the 
booty and the spoils. He reappeared, loaded down — provisions, 
clothes, swords, pistols, and some fine old Otard brandy! His 
report, while it showed us what we had missed, was interesting 
too. "Barrels of fiour," he said, "bags of fruit, boxes of meat, 
hogsheads of sugar, rice and mess-beef, piles of clothes, were 
scattered around in profusion, while the sutler's tent was filled 
with luxuries. In the headquarter's tent, a fine dinner, with 
dainty surroundings, had been left untouched, the bottles of wine, 
with which it was fianked, standing on the table with corks un- 
drawn. Everything went to show the bountiful system of the 
Yankee commissariat." 

And another incident he related of the night's experience, that 
exemplified how closely Death ever hovers over the soldier, 
ready at the most unexpected moment to stretch out his bony 
hand and clutch his helpless victim. 

In a large tent, belonging evidently to the staff, he saw in the 
dim light a Federal officer reclining in a chair; his head rested on 
the table before him and his whole attitude was one of perfect 
rest. Startled at the presence of such a person, he levelled his 
musket upon the officer and ordered him to surrender; no reply 
being made, he reiterated the command in a louder tone, and 
still the figure did not stir; with a strange feeHng he advanced 
and laid his hand upon the shoulder — no movement! he touched 
the face, it was quite cold. He left the tent hurriedly, and call- 
ing some soldiers passing by, narrated what he had seen. They 



I40 JOHNNY re;b and billy yank 

procured a light and together went back to the tent, and 
found the corpse and raised him up. His jaw had fallen; in his 
right hand was a dinner knife, grasped tightly by the cold fingers, 
while on the plate before him was a piece of meat; the table lay 
spread with a repast half eaten, and he evidently had been in the 
very act of carving when the bullet, fired by some skirmisher 
beginning the attack, winged its way and struck him in the 
temple, killing him instantly. 

All that night the lucky troops who were camped in the cap- 
tured quarters luxuriated in the spoils, and could be heard sing- 
ing and carousing around their huge fires. 

After waiting until it was dark the regiment marched back into 
the pine woods a mile or two to the rear. Without waitings to 
build fires — wet, hungry, and sad at heart for those we should 
miss from our ranks forevermore, and utterly broken down — we 
threw ourselves on the muddy ground and slept. 

Colonel Corse, commanding our regiment, says : ''At 4 P. M. I 
moved the Seventeenth by the left flank in double-quick time for 
one and one-half miles down the Williamsburg road, passing for 
500 yards under a heavy artillery and infantry fire to a wood-pile 
to the left of the Barker house, when we halted for a few moments 
to permit the men to recover breath ; we there filed to the right 
in front of a redoubt and into the enemy's camp, encountering a 
galling infantry fire from the enemy stationed in the edge of the 
wood. After advancing some distance I received an order to 
fall back and reform behind the trenches, which was done in toler- 
able good order, which position we held until near night-fall, and 
holding the enemy in check until they were driven from their 
position. 

"In the advance into Casey's division camp. Color Corporal 
Morrill was struck down, wounded in three places, and rose on his 
elbows to cheer the men forward. The colors were caught by 
Captain Raymond Fairfax, who w^as struck. Color Corporal 
Digges next seized them and fell wounded. They were taken by 
Private Harper, Co. D, who retained them until the close of the 
day. 

"Sergeant Major Francis fell mortally wounded some distance in 
advance of the regiment; with him was Sergeant Bayse. of Com- 
pany F, who fell dead. Lieutenant Gray was killed ; his conduct 
was always remarkable for heroism. Captain Knox, Co.m^, Cap- 
tain Fowle, Co. H, and Captain Burke were all badly wounded 
when leading their companies. Lieutenant Fitzhugh was badly 



the; BATTI.E 01^ SEVEN PINES I4I 

wounded, Major Arthur Herbert was also wounded." (Rebellion 
Records, Vol. ii, p. 580.) 

Colonel John B. Gordon, commanding the Sixth Alabama, of 
Rodes's brigade, which captured the redoubt, says : "The right 
wing formed a line on the left of the Fourth Virginia Battalion, 
and was ordered by General Rodes in person to charge the 
redoubt; the whole command went over the ditch and embank- 
ment into the redoubt, where we captured a stand of colors and 
six pieces of artillery. The enemy retreated to the abattis and 
delivered a heavy fire ; under this fire some of my best officers 
and men fell. Two field officers had fallen, three companies had 
not an officer spared, four others had but one, and more than half 
had fallen, when under orders they retired." (Rebellion Records, 
Vol. II, p. 980.) 

The Twelfth Alabama, of Rodes's brigade, which assisted in the 
rush through the camp, carried in action 408 officers and men, 
and had 59 killed and 156 wounded, losing more than half. 

Now just see the misleading character of the official reports, 
written two days after the battle, when all the facts had been sifted 
and the grains of truth supposed to be winnowed from the bushels 
of chaff. 

General James Longstreet, under date of June 10, 1862, gives 
his official report of the battle : 

"The severest part of the work was done by Major General 
D. H. Hill's division, but the attack of the two brigades under Gen- 
eral R. H. Anderson and Brigadier James L. Kemper was made 
with such spirit and regularity as to have driven back the most 
determined foe. This decided the day in our favor." (Rebellion 
Records, Vol. 11, p. 940.) 

Now read what General Hill reports a few days later in his 
official report : 

"The magnificent brigade of General Rodes moved over the 
ground to assault the Yankees in their works. He met a galling 
fire after capturing the camp, and his advance was checked. 
Kemper's brigade was now sent me by General Longstreet, and 
directed by me to move directly to the support of Rodes. This 
brigade, however, did not engage the Yankees, and Rodes's men 
were badly cut up." (Hill's report, O. R., Vol. 40, p. 944.) 

In the official reports. General J. E. Johnston, the commander- 
iti-chief, says : "Had Huger been in position and ready for action 
when Smith, Longstreet and Hill moved, I am satisfied that 



142 JOHNNY REB AND BII,I,Y YANK 

Keyes's Federal corps would have been destroyed instead of being 
merely defeated."* (O. R., Vol. ii, p. 935.) 

Longstreet states in his official report that had Huger been in 
position within eight hours of the time he was ordered to attack, 
the battle would have been a complete success. 

Now let us see what the Union soldiers say about the battle. 

General Casey in his report says : "I occupied with my division 
the advance position in the army, and parties were employed up 
to the 31st of May in throwing up rifle-pits and a redoubt, and 
also constructed an abattis and earthworks in rear of my camp. 
About II or 12 o'clock I was led to believe that a serious attack 
was contemplated and immediately ordered my division under 
arms. My force consisted of four brigades of thirteen regiments 
and five batteries of artillery, composing the Pennsylvania and 
New York troops. I placed one battery under Lieutenant Hart 
in the redoubt. The Eighty-fifth New York occupied the rifle- 
pits ; Captain Regan's battery in the rear and to the right of the 
rifle-pits — and this battery was supported by the Eighty-fifth 
Pennsylvania. The One Hundred and Third Pennsylvania were 
ordered in the front to support the redoubts. About fifteen 
minutes after these dispositions were made the Rebels advanced, 
and the One Hundred and Third Pennsylvania came down the 
road in some confusion, having suffered a considerable loss from 
the fire of the Rebel advance. 

"The enemy now attacked me in the center in large force, and 
a heavy demonstration on both wings; my artillery in the mean- 
time throwing canister in the ranks with great effect. Perceiv- 

*After the war I saw a good deal of General Huger. He bought a plantation 
in Fauquier County, Virginia, and I was often a guest at his house. As a host, 
raconteur and a man of the world he was without a peer, but he had no military 
genius; he was essentially and entirely a parlor soldier. His staff was more 
showy than the commander-in-chief's and he loved the pomp and pageantry of 
war, but he was not made of the stuff that, like the stormy petrel, "revels m the 
tempest," nor like the mountain eagle, who "mocks the thunder and defies the 
storm." 

Like General Pemberton, his after life was made unhappy by the criticisms of 
Southern people. He was very gloomy at times, and always thought he had been 
unjustly condemned. 

Note. — Historj^ of the Seventeenth Virginia, George Wise, page 71, as follows: 

"During the Battle of Seven Pines, in the redoubt, Watkins of Company H, and 
Alex. Hunter of Company A, were particularly conspicuous in the heat of the 
first day's fight, for bravery and unerring aim. Guns were loaded by the boys 
around them, and the two, standing upon the embankment, fired as rapidly as they 
could take the guns ; the colors of a regiment in front were cut down three times 
in succession." 



THK battle: of seven pines I43 

ing at length that the enemy were threatening with both wings, for 
want of reinforcements that had been repeatedly asked for, I 
then, in order to save my artillery, ordered a charge of bayonets 
by the four supporting regiments at the center, which was exe- 
cuted in the most gallant and successful manner, the enemy being 
driven back when the charge had ceased, but not until the charge 
liad reached the edge of the woods, wdien the most terrible fire of 
musketry commenced that I ever heard. The Rebels again ad- 
vanced in force, and my flanks being threatened, a retreat to the 
works became necessary. 

''To be brief, the works were retained until they were most en- 
veloped by the enemy, the troops with some exceptions fighting 
with spirit and gallantry. The troops retreated to the second 
line in possession of General Couch's division. On my arrival 
at the second line I succeeded in rallying a small portion of my 
division, and with the assistance of General Kearny, who had 
just arrived with one of his brigades, attempted to regain pos- 
session of my camp, but it was found to be impracticable. The 
troops of General Couch were driven back, though reinforced by 
the corps of General Heintzelman. I cannot forbear to mention 
the loss of my Chief of Artillery, Colonel G. D. Bailey, who fell in 
an attempt to spike the guns in the redoubt. If a portion of my 
division did not behave as well as could have been wished, it must 
be remembered what a terrible ordeal they were subjected to." 
(Rebellion Records, Vol. 40, p. 909-910.) 

That fatal redoubt and the narrow passage between it and the 
wood-pile, the only entrance to the camp, was a death-trap to the 
foe. as it was to ours. Colonel Henry Briggs, of the Tenth 
Massachusetts, states : "I was ordered by General Keyes to pro- 
ceed with my command to the road, and form a line near a large 
wood-pile near the works. I proceeded at once to execute this 
order. At this point on the left of the road there was a small 
oblong open space about thirty yards wide, and long enough to 
form five companies in line fronting the enemy. All at once a 
severe fire opened from the woods and underbrush on my left 
flank, not more than fifty paces distant. It was so severe that 
the lines were broken, and the narrowness of the open space made 
it impossible to change front. I gave the order to retreat. Col- 
onel Day was killed here in a fight almost hand-to-hand with the 
enemy. This position amounted to an ambuscade, and I believe 
no troops could stand the overwhelming fire they were subjected 
to. I myself was struck by two musket balls and carried to the 



144 JOHNNY RI<;b and BIIvl^Y YANK 

rear; my loss was one hundred and twenty-one killed and 
wounded." (O. R., Vol. ii, p. 910-912.) 

The foe that our brigade met face to face was the brigade of 
Naglee, and the Seventeenth's immediate opponent was the 
Fifty-sixth and Eleventh Maine. General Naglee, commanding, 
says : ''At 4 o'clock I ordered the Fifty-sixth New York to save 
the guns [meaning some of Casey's]. The regiment moved 
toward the Williamsburg road at double-quick and held its posi- 
tion some distance in front for over an hour. Both regiments 
again charged but were compelled to retire with loss. These 
regiments formed in line behind the abattis and they held then- 
line for a half an hour, doing great execution, and repulsed the 
Rebel advance." (Rebellion Records, Vol. 11, p. 896.) 

Further on General Naglee, of Casey's division, says: "Re- 
turning rapidly to my Fifty-sixth New York and Eleventh Maine, 
I found the enemy had been successful in turning my right flank, 
and had opened a most destructive fire from the redoubt, and this 
state of afTairs could no longer be endured and they were with- 
drawn, and marched down the Nine-mile road and placed in posi- 
tion in rear of this road, and this position they held for a time, 

"Fully confirming the statement of my officers, I saw no running 
and no panic." 

"Yesterday, 31 May, '62, at i P. M., the enemy, taking advan- 
tage of a terrible storm which flooded the valley of the Chicka- 
hominy, attacked our troops on the right bank of that river. 
Casey's division, which was on the first line, gave way unaccount- 
ably and discreditably. (General McCIellan's Report, Rebellion 
Records, Vol. 11, p. 751.) 

General N. H. Davis, Assistant Inspector Army of the Po- 
tomac, says : "Casey's division at the recent battle of Seven 
Pines was not surprised, but defective disposition and insuffi- 
ciency of officers, together with bad discipline, accounts for its 
conduct in the battle." 

It was the common talk around our camp-fires that but for the 
siubborn defense made by Casey we would have captured every 
Yankee south of the Chickahominy River. The Confederate 
attack was like a thunderbolt, and though Casey's troops had to 
relinquish their camp, yet they rallied and poured such a deadly 
fire on us that the two crack brigades of Rodes and Kemper 
went to pieces for a time, and this deadly fusilade was kept up 
until near dark and effectually kept the Rebels from forming in 
line and advancing. It is always the case that the defeated gen- 



the; batixe; op se;ve:n pines 145 

eral must find some scapegrace, and Casey was the one picked 
out, and he had to bear the whole blame of the defeat, which was 
owing to McClellan's faulty disposition of his troops. 

General Casey must have suffered the keenest pangs that the 
human heart can feel, when knowing as he did that he had saved 
the Army of the Potomac from a deadly stroke, yet had all the 
unsuccessful generals turning on him like a pack of wolves. 

Listen to the praise of the enemy. General Hill says in his 
report : "The gallant charge of my division demoralized the 
force, and our reinforcements were hotly engaged, the succor 
brought to Casey not lighting as well as his ozvn men. This ac- 
counts for the fact that more than half of my entire loss fell upon 
my division. 

"Kemper's brigade halted — Rodes's brigade cut up, losing 801 
men killed and wounded, stopped the impetus of the charge and 
saved McClellan's army from irretrievable disaster, and yet Casey 
was forced to resign for alleged incompetence." 



10 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE NEXT DAY. 

The preparation of breakfast was an event of great enjoyment 
to us. Our meal was of the primitive order, but we dahied and 
lingered over cooking it, enjoying the odor of the meat and cof- 
fee as it came steaming in grateful, fragrant clouds of incense from 
the fire; anticipation filling up the full measure of the pleasure. 
And in this wise did our foot cavalry proceed to cook it — each 
man alike, though there were no regulations on the subject; such 
knowledge being ever evolved from the innate genius and lofty 
inspiration of the occasion. 

Opening his haversack wherein the rations were carried — an 
uninviting bag of a store-room, which was by long use grimed 
with dirt, blackened by smoke, and greased with fat of bacon that 
came oozing through the canvas — Johnny Reb would extract a 
chunk of fat wrapped up in a piece of rag and cut therefrom some 
slices, then from the bottom of the haversack he would exhume 
his hardtack, as he called the crackers, and prop them up before 
the blazing fire to toast; next, drawing the ramrod from the rifle, 
he would run it through the slice of meat and hold it in the flames ; 
when it had caught fire, as he intended it should, he would sus- 
pend it over the crackers, which had been toasted brown, and per- 
mit the grease to fall drop by drop upon them ; and then he filled 
the old battered tin cup with water and adjusted it nicely upon the 
coals. This "required some art and strict attention, as a tilt was 
ever dangerous, and chunks were generally very slippery and 
very treacherous. As soon as the water bubbled, he placed 
therein a handful of roasted rye or parched corn; and when this 
boiled some ten minutes longer the cofifee was made, and break- 
fast, dinner and supper, just as you might name it by the clock, 
(it was all the same to him) was served. 

Except when he captured coffee, or exchanged tobacco on 
picket duty with Billy Yank, Johnny never tasted it pure; and as 
for sugar, it was rarely issued to him now, so we used sorghum 
molasses instead, to sweeten our concoction, and because sorghum 
was of Southern manufacture, one of its chief merits was its 
abundance. The mixture of rye and sorghum was enough to pro- 
duce deadly illness in any one who swallowed it, not excepting a 



THE NEXT DAY 147 

Rebel soldier. But we learned to love it. True, we would tire of 
the rye sometimes when it became very monotonous; but then 
we had sassafras tea to fall back upon, "for the sake of a little 
pleasant diversion," as Handy Andy expresses it; and altogether 
we did not complain. 

It was quantity rather than quality with the soldier; he could 
pardon the first if the latter suited him ; and doubtless Johnny 
enjoyed his humble meal more than many a guest his sumptuous 
dinner; indeed, muddy water, and crushed corn and molasses were 
sweeter to his taste than the rarest wines to the sated palate of 
the millionaire ; the burnt slice of fat bacon consumed with 
keener relish than was the canvas-back, the mountain mutton, 
the ham boiled in champagne of the bon vivant — for after all, 
hunger is the best sauce, and robust health the best stimulant, 
while there is nothing like a battle for an appetizer! Try it if 
you are inclined to be skeptical. 

Was there ever citizen in the world, think you, who extracted 
quite the amount of perfect content and pleasant reveries from 
his fifty-cent Havana, as the private by the camp-fire from his old 
briar-root pipe? Every soldier smoked; it was a necessity of 
his being; and then he had the blessing of pure tobacco, carried 
in a bag hung from the button-hole of his jacket. Most of these 
bags were beautifully embroidered, for Southern women always 
gave their sweethearts and husbands two things, and kept them 
well supplied besides ; tobacco bags and Bibles. A soldier, pop- 
ular with the fair sex, and who never burned the incense of de- 
votion to one — but dozens — had usually enough Bibles given him 
to supply the whole company. 

After a battle the men were ever in a complacent mood, and 
having escaped destruction and mutilation, they loved to sit and 
recall each incident. So around the fires after the fray, for the 
weather was damp and cool, the whole campaign was discussed 
from first to last; and as we continued to gain information from 
various sources, the rationale of the attack became clear, the differ- 
ent parts of the puzzle fitted together into a harmonious whole; 
and that which had been so hard to understand, grew intelligible 
in the broad light of facts and reason. What was wanting even 
then, time, which sifts all things, suppHed ; and so the history of 
the battle gained its whole completeness. 

Our brigade commander came in for a heavy share of censure, 
and could he have assumed the magic cap of the fairy which ren- 
dered the wearer invisible, and strolled along in the vicinity of the 



148 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

different watch-fires an}^ night just about that time, and Hstened 
to the expressed sentiments of the rank and file, — heard the un- 
measured terms in which they denounced his fatal blunder of 
sending them into a battle four deep, pell-mell, to be shot down 
with never a chance to retahate, he would have resigned next 
day. 

General Kemper denied having so blundered, and said he 
wished to make a display of his force, to prevent the enemy from 
advancing and re-taking his camp. This may be so; but for all 
that, the soldiers blamed him and him alone for their mad rush 
and useless waste of life. 

About seven o'clock the morning after the battle, the brigade 
fell in line and halted on the spot where it had fought the day 
before. Its dead lay thick around, just as they had fallen. The 
regiment then took position in a redoubt, where was placed a 
four-gun battery of Stuart's horse artillery but a little distance 
away. Colonel Corse made a short speech to his regiment, in- 
forming the men that in all probability the enemy would attack 
us in heavy force to try and re-take his captured camp, and that 
the regiment must hold the fort and protect the battery at all 
hazards. 

In for it again, we thought; but then we would be fighting 
behind breastworks, and the enemy would do the storming ; so 
with the metaphorical boot on the other foot, the men answered 
by a cheer that had the genuine ring in it. 

The ranks of the regiment were quite full by this time, and the 
stragglers had all returned. In every organization there were 
always many such, who slipped out when going into battle and 
as surely returned the next day with wondrous stories of what 
they had seen and heard and done — stories, indeed, which imposed 
on no one, not even themselves. 

Of course a good many in the company became separated from 
it in the charge through the camp; these returned, and so it 
turned out that several who had been deemed killed were re- 
ceived safe and sound, to the great joy of their comrades : and 
welcoming them not exactly as repenting prodigals, but as one 
"alive from the dead," the regiment was only too sorry it had no 
fatted calf to kill. 

And now after we had been placed in position and sharp- 
shooters told off, the Colonel issued orders that we should pay the 
last sad duties to some Alexandrians. Most of the dead had been 
already buried. A shallow grave was dug in the redoubt and 



THD NKXT DAY I49 

Lieut. Gray and three others, privates Higclon and Marray, Co. H, 
Lunt, Co. A, were laid on one blanket side by side, and covered 
with another; a prayer was read and then the dirt thrown upon 
them. One of the four had been a great traveler; had passed 
through many lands and crossed many waters ; had walked along 
the Corso at Rome, sauntered through the Prado of Berlin, 
ridden through the great Arabian desert, had seen the rush of 
gold seekers to the El Dorado of the New World ; here at last to 
sleep in death, side by side with those whose lives had been so 
unconsciously linked with his ; unknown one to another, these 
men, day by day and year after year, had woven out the woof of 
their separate lives; the Fates who weave the thread of Hfe had 
drawn these strands together and woven them into one ; but yes- 
terday Atropos cut the cord ; and now one grave. 

A more lonesome, forbidding spot than the place where we had 
charged the evening before can scarcely be imagined. The 
camp had been plundered of everything of value; not a pound 
of coffee nor a pint of liquor or a piece of meat was left. The 
ground all along the scene of conflict had been trampled into a 
perfect quagmire and looked like a barn-yard on a rainy day; 
here and there lay the body of some Rebel or Yankee soldier, half 
submerged in the mud, the mire around now tinged to a reddish 
hue by the life-blood that poured through some bleeding wound ; 
often on dragging out the corpse and washing off the muck and 
mire they would find some comrade whom they thought had 
escaped or was missing. 

It was only on going to the barn just in front, where the colors 
of the Seventeenth went down three times, that the tremendous 
severity of the enemy's fire could be realized. 

The whole side fronting them was shattered and torn by the 
missiles ; there was not a space as large as the human hand that 
had not been struck by either shot, shell or ball. Talk of a build- 
ing being riddled, one might not understand the meaning of the 
term who had not looked on such a sight as this. With such 
tangible proof before the eyes, of how thick and fast the bullets 
flew, to say nothing of the grape and shell, it was a source of 
wonder how, in the face of such a fire, any man had come out alive. 

It was nearly nine o'clock when the sound of distant guns was 
heard, and in a few moments the regiment was formed into a line 
inside the works. 

"The Yankees will be along soon," our captain was heard to 
remark. The four guns were placed and sighted, the ammuni- 



150 JOHNNY REB AND BILI.Y YANK 

tion piled in heaps beside each gun; the rammers threw off their 
jackets and bared their arms to the elbow, and officers and men 
bent forward, shading- their eyes with their hands to catch a first 
glimpse of the foe. But the pine woods effectually concealed all 
that was going on. Evidently there was fighting progressing 
somewhere on the left. 

All at once the noise of a stirring hurrah was heard, and from 
the woods about three hundred yards on our left there came a 
long line in blue advancing against the brigade on our left, com- 
manded by Generals Mahone and Prior. It was a thrilling sight 
and we held our breath in intensity of excitement. The charge 
was made with all the regularity of a parade, but encountering a 
heavy fire from the brigades, retired in confusion. There was 
further fighting on the extreme left, but none of the men in blue 
favored us with their especial compliments, and the hours passed 
quietly by. After a while some of our slightly wounded wended 
their way to the rear, and being interrogated, told the same tale 
that ninety-nine out of a hundred ever tell, — tales of fighting 
against fearful odds and of dreadful slaughter amounting almost 
to annihilation. In every battle the exaggeration is invariable. 
Perhaps this class of soldier, feeling himself for the once safe 
and lucky too, takes a malicious delight in heightening the effect 
for the benefit of others going into action ; perhaps his fears had 
actually magnified the state of affairs, and out of the abundance 
of his terrors he spoke what to him seemed truth ; perhaps, having 
been terrorized, he wanted misery to keep him company ; how- 
ever it may be, the same chorus was ever kept up in the rear 
of the battle ; and at first it had the effect of exciting the reserve 
to run, at the bursting of the introductory shell ; but the boys 
soon became used to the recital and took it thereafter as a matter 
of course. 

While waiting in this state of suspense for the enemy's advance, 
an officer, seemingly about thirty-five, splendidly mounted and 
high in command, rode up, and slapping Col. Corse familiarly on 
the shoulder made some jocular remark; his was a striking figure 
and he sat in his saddle like Hotspur himself, who "witched the 
world with his noble horsemanship;" his face was bronzed, his 
eyes, the most noticeable feature, were of a light blue, of that kind 
that keeps deep in their depths changing lights and shadows, but 
whose prevailing expression was mirth and laughter; a huge 
beard, full and flowing as the Norseman's of old, covered his face ; 
his uniform was rich, even foppish ; the sleeves of his coat slashed 



' THE NEXT DAY 15 1 

with gold braid in the form of a Hungarian knot that extended 
nearly to the shoulder; his pants, light blue with silver cord, 
were met at the knee by a pair of embroidered cavalry boots, at 
the heels of which were attached large silver Mexican spurs that 
jingled with every motion of his impatient horse ; on his head he 
wore a wide-brimmed slouch hat with a golden cord around the 
crown, one side looped up with a gilt star, while a large plume 
fell from the brim nearly to his shoulder; his voice was rich and 
vibrating and his laughter was music to the ear — so full, so joyous, 
that once heard it lingered in the memory. 

As he reined up his horse at the entrance of the redoubt, sitting 
there with the surroundings of glittering bayonets and unmuzzled 
cannon with a back-ground of battle-smoke drifting through the 
air, he made a picture that would have inspired an artist. 

One could imagine just such a princely form in those stirring 
scenes which Froissart describes ; or picture him in the Holy 
Land surrounded by the Douglas, as he threw the heart of Bruce, 
encased in the jeweled locket, straight in the midst of the Sara- 
cens, plunging and forcing his way among the countless infidels 
and dying at last beside his Scottish Prince. 

Imagine just such a man leading the Imperial Guard of the 
Grand Army as it struck the Austrian center at Wagram. At all 
times the born dragoon, the fearless soldier; or best of all, see 
him as the Prince of Cavalrymen, one of the bravest spirits that 
ever fought for the Confederate cause — one of the noblest that 
ever unsheathed a sword; one of the truest that ever offered up 
on a country's altar a stainless life : one of the knightliest that 
ever graced the page of history, 

"As full of valor as of kindness, 
Primely in both." - ' 

■ General Jeb Stuart ! Commander-in-Chief of the Cavalry. 

The enemy on our front and left began in a desultory way to 
shell our troops on the Williamsburg road, though doing no spe- 
cial damage. A Rebel regiment, just fresh from camp and newly 
organized, was marching not two hundred yards from us across 
the field, when suddenly two or three shells from the enemy's 
battery burst high above their heads ; instantly every man, from 
the colonel down to the drummer-boy, dropped flat on all fours 
with a promptitude and in a perfection of time that was wonder- 
ful to behold. In a short time officers and men arose and kept on 
in the line of march. Again the little puffs of blue smoke ap- 



152 JOHNNY REB and BIIvI/Y YANK 

peared in the sky, followed by the peculiar noise made by a shell 
in bursting, and again the whole command sought the embrace 
of Mother Earth. While in this ridiculous situation, floundering 
on the ground, a mounted officer — probably a general — rode up, 
and from his earnest gesticulations we could see that he was not 
mincing words or flattering the hearers. After a while they pro- 
ceeded on their way without practicing manoeuvres — manoeuvres 
not laid down in Hardee's Tactics. Evidently from this, they had 
been under fire in more ways than one. 

This weak-kneed regiment was afterwards placed in the First 
Brigade, and a braver set of men never shouldered muskets; 
proving that all men are timid in encountering for the first time 
an unknown danger. A year afterwards, and a whole battery 
might have played upon them and not so much as have broken 
their dressed lines. 

The day passed ; the musketry died away and the guns only 
fired at intervals; most of the soldiers lay around the redoubt 
and dozed. After sundown the regiment was formed and com- 
menced the march back in the direction of the old camping 
ground. The roads were badly cut up by the artillery that had 
passed and repassed during the twenty-four hours; full of holes 
and ruts, into which, amid the utter darkness that surrounded 
them like a pall, the soldiers were falling and wallowing every 
step of the way. 

After a most exhausting wade the brigade halted in a swamp 
and went into bivouac. There was not a soldier in the command 
who had not been spattered from head to foot with mud. The 
prospect of a night spent in this spot was not cheering. Some 
of us found two fence rails apiece, which we laid parallel to each 
other about six inches apart and slanting from an old stump to 
the ground, upon which we lay down with our oil cloths for cov- 
ering and slept the dreamless sleep of utter weariness. How the 
rest fared who were not so comfortably provided with beds, no 
one asked and no one cared; a short campaigning renders men 
selfish enough. Many were heard grumbling next morning and 
cursing their superior officers for making them pass the night in 
a noisome, miry swamp. 

In an hour or two we reached the old camp ; and so ended the 
battle of Seven Pines; it was a splendidly conceived movement, 
and but for the wounding of General Johnston and the incompe- 
tency of General Huger, as well as the miscarriage of the Gen- 
eral's orders, it would have put an entire new face upon the 



THE NEXT DAY 1 53 

State of affairs ; indeed, after General Johnston was wounded there 
seemed to be no fixed plan nor concerted action. In no case did 
any of our attacking force have the proper reserves, and thereby 
we failed utterly to accomplish anything except at an enormous 
cost of life, to drive the enemy from his camps and hold them. 
General Johnston, w^ien he determined to attack on the 31st, and 
had informed himself of the position of the enemy, made the mis- 
take, as I said before, of supposing that only one corps instead of 
two were across the river. 

Seven Pines was called by the South a battle of blunders. 

Believing that one-third of the Yankee force was cut off by an 
impassable stream and swamp, he intended hurling his whole 
force upon that third before it could be reinforted. Through 
the wonderful industry of the foe the Chickahominy was bridged 
by pontoons, impossible as we thought it would be, in an incon- 
ceivably short time, and reinforcements were hurried on by thous- 
ands, but — the history of the war for us is full of "ifs" and "huts'' ! 
The head that conceived, the hand that pointed the way was 
stricken down by a bullet and then chaos came. Brigadiers and 
major-generals blundered : desultory attacks were made ; and 
instead of driving the enemy into the swamps of the Chicka- 
hominy, they reformed their line and drove us back, holding 
their position until dark and then retreated to their reserves. It 
is true we held Casey's division camp, but it was a barren honor; 
and the dreadful loss of life it entailed upon the two brigades of 
Kemper and Rodes did not begin to pay for its capture. 

The New York papers gave highly-colored accounts of this 
great military wrestling match. The description of the first day's 
battle was partisan, of course, but rather fair, for they acknowl- 
edged the loss of Casey's division camp with all its munitions 
and stores; but they averred on the next day, June ist, by a 
magnificent bayonet charge in which they had fought an over- 
whelming force, they swept aw^ay the Rebel divisions and recov- 
ered the camp which had been lost the day before; the Rebel loss 
being estimated at thousands. 

How with such enterprising correspondents, such a plain, un- 
varnished falsehood should have remained uncontradicted and al- 
lowed to go down to posterity as history, is inexplicable, for Mr. 
Swinton, the fairest and most impartial historian on either side, 
in his book, "The Army of the Potomac," is misled by these 
grape-vine reports, and states that "General Sumner advanced on 



154 JOHNNY REB AND BILI^Y YANK 

June 1st and re-took much of the ground lost on the previous 
day." 

Longstreet held the redoubts and occupied Casey's division 
camp all that day, awaiting an attack ; none came ; the fight we 
witnessed having been only a heavy skirmish that could not un- 
der any circumstances have been designated as a battle. 

The truth of the whole matter was that both sides claimed 
too much; and there was just a little too much bragging all 
around. The conclusion that must be deduced after weighing 
the merits of both sides and their losses, was that it stood a 
drawn battle. 

In this great game of military chess there was no checkmate; 
the enemy lost their castle ; we our knight ; and the vast contest 
remained still to be played. The Northern papers spoke, however, 
of their churches having celebrated the great victory by ''Te 
Deums." There was no exulting for us, no rejoicing — only a 
great nerving of the people for deadlier encounters ; only a tighter 
strain upon the muscles for this life-or-death tug. 

As for our crack brigade between three and four thousand 
strong, we have seen how it was handled; how it was placed in 
action; had this been managed skilfully — who can tell? Seven 
Pines might have been a proud name to Southern ears ; as it was, 
the brigade lost between three and four hundred killed and 
wounded and in return killed hardly a half-dozen of the enemy; 
for probably not twenty-five of the whole command fired off a 
single gun. 

From that time — from the battle of Seven Pines, whether justly 
or unjustly — the privates of the brigade lost confidence in their 
commanding officer, and ascribed all the useless bloodshed to his 
incompetency. 

This was but one instance in many, of bloody blunders that 
were constantly happening in our army, made by men of no mili- 
tary training and who possessed no soldierly qualities. They were 
not only not court-martialed, but every ef¥ort was made to hush 
up the untoward affair and they were allowed to keep in com- 
mand and concoct fresh butcheries. What mattered it? In this 
case of storming a camp in a column of fours, only a hundred 
homes were made desolate, and twice that number of stalwart 
men crippled for life. Between the upper and nether millstone 
the private in the ranks had a dangerous time of it. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



RICHMOND AFTER THE BATTEK. 



The brigade moved into its former quarters, and but for the 
missing of old famihar faces Seven Pines would have seemed but 
a dream. Our camp was just as we had left it, the tents never 
having been taken down nor anything disturbed. For guard, the 
colonel had left various teamsters, convalescents, and others who 
always managed to get sick on the eve of any aggressive move- 
ment ; and these had kept so faithfully to their posts in time of 
danger, we had no occasion to complain that our camp equipage 
had not been well protected. 

In the city, busy, bustling and sad enough scenes were being 
enacted on every side. New regiments from the far South had 
just arrived and were marching through the streets, cheering and 
waving their hats as they passed ; batteries of artillery were de- 
filing along the thoroughfares, the drivers cracking their whips 
and urging their horses into a trot, all going toward the front, 
down Main and Broad streets into the Williamsburg road. Long 
lines of ambulances coming from the opposite way toiled slowly 
along, filled with the wounded from the battle-field, who were 
being carried to the various city hospitals — the long, torturing 
way marked by the trail of blood that oozed drop by drop from 
the human veins within, or else might be seen a wagon-load of 
dead piled one upon another, their stiffened, rigid feet exposed to 
view, showing to the horrified spectator that for just so many 
the cares and sorrows of this life, its pain and misery, were passed 
forever. 

Every vehicle from the battle-field was crowded to its utmost 
capacity. The more slightly wounded were made to walk, and 
long lines of them could be seen hobbling along the street, their 
wounds bound up in bloody rags. The citizens turned out in full 
force and did all in their power to alleviate this suffering; there 
was scarcely a house in Richmond wherein some wounded were 
not taken to be nursed with tenderest care; indeed, in some in- 
stances parlors and passages as well as chambers were converted 
into temporary hospitals, and everything done that unwearied 
nursing and gentlest attention could devise, and that for the 
roughest soldiers in the ranks as readily as for the highest general 



156 JOHNNY REB AND BII,LY YANK 

who wore his stars. Ladies stood in front of their homes with 
waiters of food and drink, luxuries and wine, which they dealt 
out unsparingly to wounded soldiers that passed them. 

The Capitol square was filled with officers, privates and citi- 
zens; it had ever been a kind of news mart and a general rendez- 
vous for the soldiers, while the ladies always loved to frequent its 
shady walks or rest on the seats beneath its trees, but the morning 
after the battle it was crowded. Many who were in doubt as to 
the fate of some loved one turned their steps to this battle park 
as the surest and easiest way of gaining information ; comrades 
met and congratulated each other on escape ; citizens listened to 
recitals of the battle; dirty, mud-covered soldiers, looking as if 
they had been dug out of a clay bank, were met and hugged by the 
whitest of arms and kissed by th'e sweetest of rose-bud lips; 
handsomely dressed and beautiful women, with tears streaming 
down their fair cheeks, greeted husbands, brothers and lovers. 
Many of those soft-eyed, soft-voiced women had dauntless souls, 
and when sobbing in agony at their parting they yet could mur- 
mur with pallid lips, like the Roman wives when handing their 
shields to their husbands and sons, "Return with them — or upon 
them." 

It had been a time of terrible anxiety to the people of Rich- 
mond. The first battle to occur near them, they had listened 
all day to the thunder of the cannon with agonizing feelings, with 
nerves strained to the highest tension, awaiting the result. Not 
only did they have their own near and dear to think of, but from all 
the South had poured in letters from friends and relatives charg- 
ing them to watch over kindred and take charge of them if 
wounded. Then from all quarters of the Confederacy wives had 
followed their husbands to the scene of action, filling with other 
refugees every available boarding-house, public and private, in the 
city. To these strangers in a strange land it had been a trial of 
no light moment to listen to those death-dealing monsters and 
know one life was at stake. Ah, yes, this battle had thrilled the 
city to its depths! 

Such an extraordinary call for hospital accommodations had 
found the Richmond authorities entirely unprepared ; buildings 
were hastily fitted up with the barest of comforts; medical stores 
on hand were entire!)^ inadequate for the demand. The city doc- 
tors were employed day and night, and as for nurses — if the women 
of the place, young and old, had not volunteered their services, 
matters would have been very much worse than they were. 



RICHMOND AFTER THE BATTLE 157 

Soups and delicacies were sent from private houses, and so the 
suffering was in a measure mitigated. After some time, and 
throughout the war, the hospitals of Richmond were organized 
and better conducted, with their efficient surgeons, skilled nurses, 
and admirable routine; but at that time chaos reigned supreme, 
and many precious lives were lost from want of ordinary attention, 
that otherwise might have been saved. 

For days and nights wagons and ambulances never ceased to 
empty their wretched loads before the door of each of these hastily 
improvised hospitals, never ceasing until the building overflowed 
with maimed humanity and could accommodate no more. In some 
instances empty stores were taken, and pallets of straw placed 
on the floors and counters. At the handling of wounds, — rough 
it must have seemed, in spite of every effort to make it gentle, — 
the racking of quivering nerves passing all bounds of patient en- 
durance, screams of agony would sometimes break out upon the 
air with startling emphasis. Here was some poor fellow being 
taken from an ambulance with an arm shot so nearly off that it 
needed only one stroke of the knife to quite finish the work ; 
another with a mangled leg — yes! it were better to look away 
from such a piteous spectacle ; a boy with his face so torn by a 
sliell that his mother would not have recognized him — and a 
dying soldier, his countenance already pallid in the fast-coming 
chill of death; and — ''Here one is dead, died on the way," they 
say as they lift a corpse from the wagon, while the passer-by, 
grown rapidly familiar with such fearful sights, glances hastily 
and passes on. 

And so passed the long procession of wounded, nearly five 
thousand, young, middle-aged and white-haired; from the pri- 
vate to the highest ranks, — hurt in every conceivable manner, 
suffering in every way, parched, feverish, and agonized, wearing 
a look of mute agony no words may describe, or else lapsed in an 
almost fortunate unconsciousness, — men from every State, pour- 
ing out blood like water and offering up lives of sacrifice for the 
cause they had espoused. No city in the world was sadder than 
Richmond in those days ; all the misery and woe of Seven Pines 
had been emptied into her fair streets and homes, and she had 
"no language but a cry" — an exceedingly bitter cry, that rose in 
the night to God on High, if the heavens were not brass. 

It was sad enough to walk the streets, that is, if one were in 
the least observant. Ten to one you would see some scene en- 
acted that would make the heart ache in sympathy. The dreaded 



158 JOHNNY R^B AND BILLY YANK 

ambulance might draw up before some residence whose doors 
would open to receive a burden borne in tenderly — father, 
brother, son or husband ; there might gather hastily on the steps 
members of the family to receive him, dead or hurt, — some wife, 
sister, mother, — whose words of tenderest meaning or bitterest 
weeping you might hear ere you passed quite out of the sound 
of voices. Or (for women take such matters differently), it might 
be you would only catch a look of mute despair, as if a face had 
turned to stone. Crape waved its sad signal from the door of 
house after house ; and it was no unusual sight to see three or 
four funeral processions on their way to the city of the dead 
at the same time. 

The people realized with a sudden shock the actualities of an 
internecine strife and it was brought to their very doors. Before, 
they had seen only its pride and pomp, and a martial showing; 
they had heard only the rattling of artillery over the stony streets, 
and the tread of passing columns ; but all at once, with the sound 
of hostile guns, gaunt, grim-visaged war touched their hearts, 
and sickened their souls with horror. 

It rendered them .more determined, more earnest, more 
serious; it made them feel it was time to perform their part in 
the great tragedy and not waste the hours in light comedy, vain 
regrets, or childish longings. 

In one day Richmond was changed from a mirth-loving, pleas- 
ure-seeking city into a city resolute and nerved to make any sacri- 
fice for the cause she loved. 

One day — Paris; the next — Sarragossa. 



CHAPTER XX. 

A BREATHING SPELL. 

After a week had passed we changed our position, for what 
reason none could guess ; but it was not for the better, so far as 
our comfort was concerned, the new camp being pitched on the 
slope of the hill, without the vestige of a shade tree near ; about a 
hundred yards ofif was a small fringe of pines, sufficient to furnish 
necessary fuel for cooking purposes ; the food issued was of good 
quality and fairly abundant. 

As we had been paid ofT and Richmond was so near, we made 
our hard-earned money fly; the most economical man in the 
regiment saw no use of hoarding paper in times so prodigal 
of human life; a pocket full of notes, we thought, would not turn 
away a bullet ; and it was as well to die poor as rich, consequently 
no sailor from a three years' cruise made greater haste to spend 
his long earnings ; every cent went for the stomach, none for the 
back or general adornment ; it was literally, "Let us eat, drink and 
be merry, for to-morrow we may die." 

Blockade whiskey abounded ; strict orders had been given to 
keep it out of camp, but where money is, there also is found 
liquor ; and no law, human or divine, though backed by the bayo- 
nets of all the military, could guide its flow or gauge its overflow; 
it would be carried on drill in musket barrels, with a cork drum- 
med tightly in the muzzle and a close cap on the nipple ; and made 
to go through sundry evolutions, which in some remarkable man- 
ner always improved the flavor. Soldiers going to the spring to 
fill canteens would, strange to say, come staggering back, leaving 
upon the minds of the beholder the impression that the stream ran 
brandy or some other fluid whose "shallow draught intoxicates the 
brain." It seemed too as if the Fairies of the Midsummer Night 
were at work upon the magic decoction, for just as sure as you hung 
a canteen on the branches of a pine tree some moonlight night, not 
forgetting to put a dollar around the cork, just as certainly as you 
chanced to pass that way next day you would find that same 
canteen filled with stone-fence whiskey — and the dollar myster- 
iously gone. Humble-looking old negro men, who only wanted 
the chance to talk religion by the hour when they brought bas- 
kets of fruit or fowls around, always had a bottle somewhere. 



l6o JOHNNY REB AND BII^IvY YANK 

Simple Moses, from the country, meek as his namesake's pro- 
verbial lamb, generally carried concealed under his belt lialf 
a dozen flasks; the old black pie-woman was famous for her jug, 
which in some manner, known only to her feminine devices, she 
smuggled in upon her person ; the very newsboys knew by in- 
tuition where a demijohn lay buried in the swamp; in conse- 
quence everybody was drinking camp juleps and smashes (and 
every soldier knows what they are), while on divers occasions 
it was seen that some of the dress parade failed to exhibit that 
regularity of line upon which the old brigade was wont to pride 
itself. 

The regimental sutlers reaped a rich harvest on this one item 
alone, ours of the Seventeenth once stating that he had cleared 
as much as six thousand dollars in one day ; and then Confederate 
currency was comparatively good — about fifty per cent, in value. 

The middle of June was now upon us, and so hot had it become 
that we found it simply impossible to remain in tents. During 
the early part of the day and until the late noon, the heat inside 
was worse than that of the blazing sun without; the canvas 
seemed only to draw the rays to a focus and keep them there in 
one white blaze. 

And to add to the discomfort, swarms of flies infested the tents 
and could never be induced on any account to leave them ; they 
seemed to think exposure to the outer air not at all conducive to 
their health, while anything like a walk abroad would be posi- 
tively fatal. 

Sometimes we fancied one of Egypt's plagues had been spread 
out again upon the land; or else that the North had sent good, 
loyal, flag-loving flies over the lines to harass the enemy and eat 
up his substance. Talk of a mule's persistence — obstinacy — how 
it fades into insignificance and dwindles into nothingness when 
you compare it to a fly's ! You might take a mule's whole "cussed- 
ness," all that stands out in his ears, tail and legs, and fills his 
body besides, so that when he takes it into his head to stop you 
have need to build a fire under him to make him go — take that, I 
say, and condense it to fit a fly; expand this last to the mule him- 
self, and there is enough of power in it to blow him up like 
dynamite. No ! for consistent, double-acting, perpetual motion, 
aggravating obstinacy — commend me to a fly ! For instance : feel 
the day to be unusually oppressive; take up a book or linger on 
the nearest verge of dreamland ready to fall into placid uncon- 
sciousness — then let one big old fellow of the swarm -fix you 



A BREATHING SPELIy l6l 

with his eye, let him turn his bulging, calculating old orbs on your 
nose with intentions of his own ; let him roll those same eyeballs 
around once or twice in their sockets while he selects a particu- 
larly delectable spot for his own future edification and arranges 
his plans with a view thereto ; let him scratch his confounded old 
head several minutes with his fore feet to help along the idea; 
let him sharpen his teeth and whet his tongue ; let him polish his 
claws and give himself a final rub all over; then fix his gaze 
steadily on the coveted morsel of a spot and make for it ! Well ! 
You might fight that fly for an hour, you may strike out with 
your soul in every blow, you may shock his delicacy by every big, 
bad word known to the English language — and back he comes 
with the persistent regularity of a pendulum ; spite of threats and 
battling and profanity, back he comes ! ! and comes ! ! ! 
into that identical spot he comes, and nothing but Death himself 
will turn him from it ! 

Death ! you cannot kill him ; he bears a charmed life. So at 
last, with your temper gone, your strength exhausted, your face 
reddened, you take refuge in flight ignominious, with a last re- 
curring jab at your nose and a farewell defiant buzz ringing in 
your ears. 

Anyhow, it was impossible to eat our meals in any comfort 
whatsoever ; and on a rainy day we were driven as nearly fly-crazy 
as men can conveniently run. Our dinner generally wound up 
with a favorite dessert of toasted bread and molasses stewed in 
the camp-kettles; we thought it the very best thing to end of¥ 
with, and so too thought the flies ; in perfect unison of taste and 
opinion, they prepared to contend for every morsel and opened 
their whole flying artillery upon us ; they assailed us with all their 
forces, front, rear and on both flanks. We fought with one hand 
and carried with sudden jerks the food to our mouths with the 
other. Indeed, one man of the regiment, glorious Hector 
E'.aches, known as the best-tempered fellow in the world — a per- 
fect Mark Tapley, who always "came out strong" in adversity 
and under fire, had it recorded against him in the book of 
chronicles — memory's great volume — that so beset, aggravated, 
tormented, distressed, devoured, and so tortured was he by the 
swarming multitudes (each one beset by forty devils), that, hav- 
ing lost all patience, he on one occasion was seen to seize his 
canteen and plate and lay about him in a perfect paroxysm of 
rage, cursing worse than any of the Army of Flanders. 
II 



l62 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

In the middle of the day, after morning- drill and roll call, some 
of us would beg, borrow or steal for the time, papers and novels 
and repair to the creek about a mile away from camp, then, un- 
dressing, we would lie in some shallow place in the water under 
the umbrageous foliage and so spend hours. It was a rather 
singular scene at first, to witness these heads with books before 
them rising above the water's level, with no other intimation of 
men anywhere about ; the features dimly seen through the smoke 
that curled up from apparently the bottom of the water. One 
could almost imagine that the trunkless heads of the Forty 
Thieves had floated to the surface from below, and were exhaling 
a little of their sulphurous breath. 

At least it had the good effect of keeping us clean, cool and in 
cheerful spirits, while but few of the regiment had the camp-fever 
that was filling the hospitals. 

The camp-fever was like the old typhoid, only the surgeons 
pronounced it somewhat different. Many, very many were strick- 
en down with it, and the regimental ambulances were too often 
employed in carrying patients to the hospitals. Dysentery and 
diarrhea sent many an enlisted man to his long home, though 
the sickness was confined to the raw levies of the Southern troops, 
the veterans of a year suffering but little. Causes were easily 
traceable to the heat of the tents and their impure air more than 
anything else, and exposure to the sun, bad water and unripe fruit. 
With several men sleeping in each tent, and the curtain down, 
there was absolutely no ventilation; and every pair of lungs 
breathed over and over vitiated air that became with each ex- 
halation only more poisonous. One sick man not caring to com- 
plain at the first symptom of approaching illness, would remain 
in his tent and infect half a dozen more; then it would be dis- 
covered how very ill they were, and the doctors would forward 
them to Richmond. 

Only two from Company A were sent away for this cause ; but 
neither returned — the fever was fatal to them both. The truth 
is, the Seventeenth, in the person of Dr. Lewis, was blessed with 
the finest surgeon, the most skilful physician, the truest friend, 
the most compassionate man in the army, and the good he did, 
the lives he saved, and the misery he averted can never be told 
in this world; it would take other than an earthly pen to write 
what the recording Peri has entered upon her tablets. 

It was a strange fact, and one that furnished subject for much 
conversation at the time, that the largest, stoutest and appar- 



A BREATHING SPElvIv 163 

ently the most healthy were the first to be suddenly attacked; 
the big, strong, bearded men were the ones to lie tossing and moan- 
ing with fever in the tents, while the delicate — those who seemed 
as if they could stand no fatigue and would be the first to suc- 
cumb — were the fortunate ones who escaped. 

The dread fever, so fatal in many cases, did not confine itself to 
the camp, but spread its devastating infection in the country 
round about. Women and children fell victims to all its long 
days and nights of tossing wretchedness, and helped to swell at 
last, and but too often, the fearful list of mortality. 

The medical staff of the army learned by actual experience 
the unhealthiness of tents ; and whether through poverty or de- 
sign, they were no longer issued to the troops, who ever after- 
wards tabernacled in the woods in summer and built log huts in 
winter. 

The soldier does not need them, except indeed the little shelter 
tents that button together, and when spread, open at both ends; 
these serve to keep off rain and dew and that is all he cares about. 
As for the regulation Sibley tent, they must become, from nat- 
ural causes, the prolific source of disease and death. 

When the news of Stuart's dashing raid around McClellan first 
reached the troops it contributed no little to raise that branch 
of the service higher in their estimation. The infantry and ar- 
tillery had ever expressed a most sovereign contempt for the cav- 
alry, bestowing on them nicknames that were anything but com- 
plimentary ; let a squad of them pass through camp, on the 
principle that "listeners hear no good of themselves," their ears 
were regaled with such epithets as "Bomb proof," "Grub scout," 
"Kitchen ranger," "Buttermilk spies" and "Loons." They ran 
the gauntlet of ridicule and banter. 

In truth, the cavalry had been having rather a good time for 
the past eighteen months, and because they had enjoyed such an 
easy, careless, roaming life, they were depreciated by soldiers who 
had to do their own walking, and up to this time all the fighting; 
then, too, there was a good deal of envy at the bottom of it all, 
if the whole truth must be confessed. But this brilliant achieve- 
ment of Stuart's brought his men prominently to the front and 
gained the thorough respect of the infantry. Certainly every 
dragoon engaged in it was a hero for days afterwards. 

The days of leafy June in all her beauty queened it right roy- 
ally. About us the trees wore their fullest and deepest robes of 
green, the meadows bloomed with the brightest of field flowers, 



164 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvI^Y YANK 

as if shot and shell were not soon destined to tear the one and 
stain the other with crimson. But then it seemed as if the 
month would pass in perfect peace and serenest rest. 

To us who watched each coming day as one likely to usher in 
the impending conflict, this quiet inaction was altogether inex- 
plicable. However, as time slipped by and nothing was heard to 
awaken expectation, we ceased to addle our brains as to the whys 
and wherefores, and revelled in whatsoever pleasures our four 
months' pay might buy us. 

From the Northern papers that always managed to reach us 
by the grape-vine route, we gained a pretty clear idea of the ex- 
isting state of affairs in the United States, and especially of their 
National Capital. Probably no contrast was ever greater than 
between the cities of Washington and Richmond — each the glit- 
tering prize that rival armies eyed longingly and set their hearts 
upon possessing. 

In the former, money that poured from an open Treasury — and 
recklessness that knew no curb, were holding high carnival. 
Wealth had come suddenly to the vast army of contractors and 
speculators. Men unknown a short while past drew large salaries 
as Government officials. Lavish expenditures blazoned the way 
of "les nouve mix riches," and gilded the residences of those who 
but as yesterday were hewers of wood and drawers of water. 
Shoddy reigned supreme and lorded it grandly. The people were 
fiddling and dancing, attending and giving balls, receptions, mat- 
inees and soirees ; the while their wounded soldiers filled the 
hospitals and their army stood in long, serried lines, grimly wait- 
ing the word of advance, and the carnage to commence. Gaiety, 
feasting and revelry were in full blast, while events of great pith 
and moment were slowly unfolding, and the denouement close 
at hand. 

In Richmond there had been no upheaval of society, bringing a 
lower strata suddenly to the surface, with such a longing for dis- 
play, such a greed for new-found honors, such zest in the novelty 
of them as made their sudden possession entirely heartless for 
the time. The war was no gala spectacle for poor Richmond — 
Capital of a country against whom were closed the ports of all 
the world, with never a hand extended to her as she stood defiant 
and alone, battling for existence, rich in nothing but the blood 
that was being poured out so profusely and freely; no! it must 
have been a brave person indeed who would have dared to violate 
public opinion, and court its censure by giving or attending pub- 
lic entertainments in the Confederate Capital just then; they 



A BRI!:aTHING SPELIv 1 65 

had not gone through the hardening process ; this was not the 
time, they said, for gaiety, at least when sons and brothers stood 
with sabre and musket in hand, waiting for the onset of a brave, 
determined foe flushed with hopes of conquest and proud in the 
might of overwhehning numbers. Besides, her new-made sabre- 
hewn graves were still too fresh. As soon expect poor Rachel 
to stop weeping for her children, and no longer refusing to be 
comforted, array herself in ball attire and step out to the tune 
of the "Devil's Dream." 

But Venus and Mars could not circle in each other's orbit and 
not mingle their rays, even if there vi^as "blood on the moon." 
So much valor on one side and so much wit and beauty on the 
other could not meet without their own quiet enjoyment. Every 
house was a center of hospitality; every soldier who could get 
from camp, by fair means or foul, might be sure of his welcome. 
And so porches and balconies those warm summer nights gener- 
ally held their quota of military visitors. 

The Army. of Northern Virginia was in splendid condition; its 
men were in the best possible spirits, and confident of victory. We 
had been furnished with new uniforms, officers shining forth es- 
pecially resplendent; every day brought new regiments of in- 
fantry and batteries of artillery, which, marching through the 
streets, added to the feeling of confidence pervading soldier and 
citizen alike. Indeed, so sanguine were the Richmond merchants 
of a successful and speedy ending of the war, so different was the 
hopefulness from the despair of a month ago, that they sold the 
troops all they wanted at cost prices. Gold fell and the fortunes 
of the Confederacy never looked brighter, or promised more. Its 
star, waning, obscured at times, now gleamed with dazzling bril- 
liancy, when on that memorable month of June, Lee with his army 
of some 80,000 men confronted McClellan, who had under him 
103,000, and stood prepared to try conclusions with his foe. 

It was so calm, there was so little news to tell, that even thou- 
sand-tongued Rumor took a rest. Jackson's Valley Campaign had 
during this month been of most absorbing interest to us; the 
army's pride and faith in him knew no bounds after the glories 
of his recent achievements. Banks, Shields, McDowell, Fremont 
and Milroy were all in pursuit; all baffled, never hemming in nor 
conquering that erratic warrior and his fleet foot-cavalry. "Oh ! 
if we only had him with us," we say, "what an army Lee would 
have!" never dreaming in our wildest imaginings such a thing 
\vithin the scope of possibilities. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

HOT TIMES AROUND RICHMOND. 

The twenty-fifth of June, and the curtain was about to rise on 
our theatre in Virginia, with the whole civiHzed world for audi- 
ence ; the play is a tragedy it seems, and now the shrill whistle 
of the prompter is heard; there is that indefinable murmur as 
people settle themselves down in their seats, and then the silence 
of breathless expectancy. 

The forenoon had passed and dinner had already been pre- 
pared and eaten ; the men were lying without their tents smoking 
post-prandial pipes, when their meditations, sweet or otherwise, 
were rudely broken upon by the rat-a-tap tap of the drum beating 
the long roll, and each soldier started to his feet as if touched by 
the wire of an electric battery. 

It meant much, this tap, how much we dared not stop to divine ! 
only the stars above us might guess for how many it was sound- 
ing the summons that comes to each of us but once. 

Yes, the time had come, the play was to begin, the curtain 
rises. Ladies and gentlemen of the world, the armies of the 
North and South are making their best bow to you ! 

"Get your accoutrements, men," said the sergeant, "and fall 
in ! leave clothes and knapsacks behind !" 

In ten minutes, in light marching order, the brigade turned by 
the right flank and went into a swinging gait in the direction of 
Mechanicsville. The whole army was in motion; regiments, bri- 
gades and divisions passing and re-passing en route ; long trains 
of artillery went by us on a trot, couriers and staf-f officers were 
galloping about like mad, making all the noise and dust possible; 
ordnance wagons and ambulances were hitching up — types of 
the doctor and the undertaker who always hunt in couples. 

We marched along the suburbs of the city, and late in the 
evening reached a large earthworks about three miles from Rich- 
mond on the Mechanicsville pike ; therein the regiment filed, and 
received orders to bivouac for the night. We managed to pick 
up enough sticks to make a fire to boil our coffee, and then we 
sat about the parapet in the moonlight discussing the coming 
campaign and the relative merits of "Old Peter" (Longstreet's 
nom de guerre) and Stonewall Jackson. 



' HOT TIMES AROUND RICHMOND 167 

Thursday was the 26th of June and we remained inactive in 
the breastworks all day; and it was hot in the fort surely, but 
the soldier is an ingenious animal, and with the aid of his bayonet 
and blanket secured a good shade, while a breeze was kept up by 
means of a tin plate used as a fan. 

About four in the afternoon a signal gun boomed through the 
stirless air, and we lined the parapet to see what was to follow; 
another gun answered ere the echo had died away and then all 
noise ceased, and the grim barking of the war dogs was heard no 
more. Tired of waiting, we had slipped down to our blankets 
and were sleeping or dozing through the sultry heat of the even- 
ing. Suddenly the battle opened, and the tremendous pounding 
of the cannon showed that a hard struggle was going on within 
two or three miles; the furious discharges of the musketry could 
plainly be heard, and evidently there was hot work in front. A 
silence fell upon us as we sat all unconscious of the setting sun's 
glare and listened to the sounds of a struggle upon which hung 
such momentous issues. The firing never faltered until the sun 
sank beneath the horizon and twilight made each object misty 
and indistinct. Even when the stars came out, the sullen guns 
boomed upon the night, as if loath to leave their inhuman work. 
Once or twice the cannonading swelled into a volume, brighten- 
ing the edge of the sky by its glare like the faint flashing of light- 
ning after a storm. The shells were beautiful as they exploded 
against the dark background of the sky, seeming as if a Titan's 
hand with his giant brush had illuminated the vast opaque with 
a sudden crimson streak. It was nine o'clock before the firing 
died entirely away. 

Friday is an unlucky day, they tell us ; sailors say so, and doubt- 
less the young Napoleon thought it, for it was for him a day 
fruitful of disasters; be that as it may, every private was of that 
opinion before another sun set in the heavens. 

Hours before the morning dawned the First Brigade was in 
motion, and marching by way of the pike toward the battle-field. 
The men were yawning pretty generally, yet the excitement kept 
them thoroughly awake ; the stars shone out with all their 
radiance from an unclouded sky; as we moved along the road, 
we saw some score or more of our soldiers lying asleep, with 
their blankets well drawn up over their heads, not at all disturbed 
by the moving troops. One of our number, in a spirit of mischief, 
fell out of the ranks and went up to the sleeping figures ; four 
or five lay under one blanket, and this he selected as the fittest 



l68 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

one for his purpose. He seized it by a corner and gave a jerk; 
though it flew off, not one that it had covered roused up or 
changed his posture. Wondering at the stillness, instead of the 
v^^rath for which he was prepared, he struck a match, held it over 
a face ; it was the sleep that knows no waking ; killed in last 
evening's battle, they had been brought and laid together by 
loving comrades, for identification and private burial. It was not 
a pleasant memory to carry into action ! — not a happy augury 
one would think, and perhaps the saddened group who gathered 
around thought so. After marching about an hour, we were 
halted in the road — or rather causeway — that crossed the Chicka- 
hominy, the swamp being on either side. It was yet dark, and 
the order was given to "break ranks," so the soldiers spread their 
blankets upon each side of the narrow road, and in less time than 
it takes to tell it, were lying unconscious. Suddenly there came 
a cry of "Cavalry!" In a second the whole line went over like a 
set of water rats, right into the swamp, and reappeared, some hun- 
dreds of them, with a handsome coating of Chickahominy mud, 
that remained with them through the whole campaign. It was a 
false alarm ; and as the men crawled back into the road, out of 
the black pools, the cursing on the eve of battle was not edifying. 
Well ! The swamp was rather damp and foggy and we shivered 
and waited for His Majesty, the sun, who never hurries himself 
by so much as a second. At last he sent his slanting beams across 
the road, as much as to say: "Here I am; you would have me, 
but you may be sick enough of me before I go to rest across 
the way !" 

Roll call soon after showed full ranks and no stragglers; and 
then after having performed the dainty duties of the toilet by 
scraping the mud off with a pocket-knife, we were prepared for 
breakfast, which consisted of a cracker, a piece of raw bacon and 
swamp-water. Strict orders had been issued to build no fires, 
and from this we knew our blue neighbors were not far away. 

A signal gun went off! "Beginning early," the soldiers said; 
and the line was formed, the ranks dressed. As we stood at ease, 
a horseman, followed by a single aide, rode slowly by, touching his 
hat to the ranks ; it was the man with the iron-gray beard and 
the slouch hat. General Robert E. Lee. 

The sun that rose at Austerlitz was no brighter than the one 
now circling full in sight; nor was the army of Italy more de- 
voted to their little Corporal than were these troops destined to be 
to him. 



HOT TIMKS AROUND RICHMOND . 169 

"Right dress ! Right face ! Forward, inarch !" The order 
was quick and decisive as it came from the colonel's lips, and the 
head of the column soon neared Mechanicsville. When we 
reached the village it needed no tongue to tell us that it was here a 
battle had been fought the evening before. Awful evidences of 
the conflict lay scattered everywhere ; the dead and dying were 
stretched out all around; horses torn to pieces by bursting shells, 
overturned wagons, empty ammunition boxes, bayonet scab- 
bards, hats, tin cups, playing cards and all the debris that helped 
to mark the footprints of dread Mars ; wounded men lay moan- 
ing on the ground, others were sitting bandaging their own hurts 
and waiting for the relief; ambulances moved about the field 
and surgeons gave direction and helped to fill each vehicle with 
its pale, wan burden ; even hacks and barouches from Richmond 
were there, with groups of citizens moving about, doing what 
good they could, and removing in their kindness a wounded man 
here and there to be taken back to their own homes. Through 
all these sights, so eloquent of the misery of war, we passed, see- 
ing all around us the dead in every attitude in which death can 
lay the human form. Many of our soldiers were killed by grape 
and canister, as they charged up the hill-side upon the enemy's 
batteries ; and so torn and mangled were they by the iron pro- 
jectiles, that the women who loved them best would scarce have 
recognized them, poor, shapeless masses of crushed bones, scat- 
tered flesh and lacerated limbs that they were ! 

Into the fort which had been stormed and taken by our men 
with such fearful sacrifice, our brigade was halted for an hour or 
more. Soon -many of us, filling canteens from the branch that 
ran near by, went among the wounded who (blue and gray) lay 
mixed together, and tried to alleviate, as far as we could, the world 
of agony around us. Uniforms made no difference in such an 
hour ; common suffering reduced all to an equal ; common 
anguish humanized the bitterest partisan. 

Our route then lay along a succession of sloping hills inter- 
spersed here and there with groupings of trees. The sound of 
cannon borne by the breeze gave token that our advance was 
pressing the enemy's rear-guard, and we caught sight of their blue 
tmiforms on a lofty hill some two miles off. Our march was now 
becoming exciting, for like fox-hunters on the trail, we had 
warmed up to the work and were following with the quarry in 
full view. Our way was through the enemy's camp, which they 
had abandoned. Great piles of hard-tack, coffee, bacon and other 



170 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

stores lay roasting and burning and charring; and as far as the 
eye could reach, the hills seemed a mass of flames. Such im- 
mense amounts of commissary stores surely never greeted a 
Rebel's gaze before ! There were piles of pure ground coffee — 
hundreds of bushels, stacked fully twelve feet high — that, con- 
suming slowly, made the whole atmosphere everywhere redolent 
with the rich aroma. Barrels and hogsheads of new pork were 
piled and built upon each other, roaring in very ecstasy of flames, 
and contending with the fumes of coffee every inch of the way 
as to which should yield the most appetizing of odors. 

Our very path was lit with flame! O, the fire had a good jolly 
old feast of its own, and it crackled and snapped in its unshackled 
mirth, as if to say: "Who can stop me?" It mocked, taunted and 
fairly roared as it curled up in defiant wreaths of fragrant smoke. 

A blind man, consulting his nose, might have sworn that both 
armies had laid down arms and gone to cooking (and we know 
they might have been worse employed) ; as it was, we who looked 
upon the waste could do nothing but step from ranks and pause 
long enough to load our haversacks with choice rations, then with 
a slow, long, lingering, loving sniff march sadly on. 

The First Brigade was in the advance, and we kept close to the 
heels of the blue coats. Right ahead of us was our battery of 
artillery, and every time the enemy made a show of halting, the 
guns would be unlimbered and the shells sent screaming toward 
them, by way of gentle reminder to hurry up. Of course they 
would fire back, but only to gain time when too closely pressed. 
After a few compliments of the sort, both would limber up and 
keep on the way. 

In the afternoon, when we had halted and were eating our bacon 
and crackers, we heard the sound of a gun far away in the enemy's 
rear; not only one, but two, three, four — and then they came so 
fast we could not count them ! What could it mean ? We did not 
know ; we could not guess. At last, as the sound of the reports 
kept gathering in intensity, an aid passed us who stopped long 
enough to give an answer. 

"Stonewall Jackson has arrived from the Valley and effected 
a junction with Lee." 

Could it be true? A deafening shout burst from our men; 
thousands of throats took it up and rent the very air; it died 
away only to be repeated in greater emphasis and volume. The 
news ran along the lines like an electric flash, to other regiments, 
and the whole brigade, now fairly ablaze, put its whole soul in a 



HOT TIMES AROUND RICHMOND I7I 

shout that expressed the wild enthusiasm of the hour. Stonewall 
Jackson here ! the genius of our Southern cause — its very soul — 
what could he know of failure? Every soldier in the ranks felt 
safe; the magic of that name, the prestige of his corps, was such 
that the most doubting Thomas had no longer any fears, but 
gave himself over with a sigh of reHef to perfect faith and peaceful 
assurance. 

We halted early in the evening, and kept position while other 
brigades continued the pursuit. McClellan having been defeated 
on his extreme right, and knowing Jackson was in his rear, drew 
in his wing and massed his army about a mile from us at Gaines' 
Mill, six miles from Mechanicsville, awaiting our onset. 

The First Brigade, located in a strip of woods, could not see 
what was going on around, could only hear the tramp of the 
troops and the clatter of artillery. Where the enemy were or 
what they were doing was only a matter of conjecture; in fact 
every one in the brigade thought the fighting over for the day. 

It was about six o'clock in the evening and the fiery rays of 
the sun had become more tempered as he sank slowly in the west. 
The men had obtained permission to make a fire and prepare 
some coffee — the first in two days. A heavy picket firing had 
sprung up some six hundred yards away, but it attracted no atten- 
tion. The men had stacked arms and were sitting around the 
fires that were nearly hidden by the regiments of tin cups in which 
the coffee had slowly begim to boil; just at this time, when each 
one was watching his cup, or searching in his haversack for a 
cracker, or cutting off a slice of meat preparatory to a supper, 
they were thrilled through the depths of their pulsating hearts to 
the very ends of their fingers by an awful tempest of musketry 
which burst not half a mile away. It opened like a hail storm, 
and the firing came in showers ; so close were we that the bullets 
hit among the trees. 

The ranks were formed in a second, our rations, our bubbling 
coffee was left on the fire ; hunger and thirst alike forgotten. 
Who could eat when probably it might prove the last meal ever 
taken on this earth ? Heavens ! What furious musketry ! like 
the rattling of trains of a dozen cars commingled, so loud and 
close, so deafening that one had need to raise his voice to a loud 
pitch in order to be heard. 

The fearful work was going on in the field over yonder; and 
men must have fallen by hundreds before that death-dealing hur- 
ricane of lead and iron. No living man would care to face such 



172 JOHNNY REB AND BIELY YANK 

destruction unless he wearied of his life, yet each felt he would 
have to enter it; and reserves always had hotter times than the 
advance. i\nd so the men stood pale and still, but with clenched 
jaws, waiting for the command to march. None came ; but the 
bullets began to hit among us and the whole line lay flat down, 
while the balls and solid shells ricochetted through the woods. It 
was the one hard thing that veterans had to stand, that of re- 
maining motionless under fire ; not a man moved in the line. 

The green of the forest was aglow with one last gleam of sun- 
light when the order was given to form ranks. In a double-quick 
we neared the scene of action. The brigade was forced to reduce 
its speed to a slow walk, for the road was filled with long streams 
of wounded men making their way to a place of safety. One of 
the wounded wore a major's star on his collar, and he sat his 
horse as easily and gracefully as if indulging in a pleasant even- 
ing's ride, though his arm just below the shoulder had been cut 
clean off by a solid shell and was kept from dropping only by a 
fragment of his coat sleeve; the severed arm swung dangling and 
turning round with every motion of his horse, yet he gave no 
moan. The man, whoever he was, was a hero^ — grand in his suf- 
fering. No hackneyed tale of mischance and reverse came from 
his lips, but dropping the rein upon his horse's neck, and saluting 
the advancing reserve, he cried out in clear, unfaltering tones ; 

"Forward, boys ! we are driving them, and the Virginians are 
in front!" 

A hero? The man was sublime! 

A ringing cheer answered him, for the soldier's superb courage 
inspired the heart and soul of every man who saw and heard him. 
A few steps brought us to the old grinding meal and flour edifice, 
known as Gaines' Mill, where the road takes an abrupt turn. It 
was just here that the fighting began, and the mill, in consequence, 
looked like a sieve, ready to fall any second at a breath. Splinters, 
planks, bricks lay tumbled in heaps, while the huge fissures and rents 
made in its walls evidenced the severity of the fire. 

The ground all around was absolutely covered with dead. Keep- 
ing on and picking our steps so as not to tread on the fallen, 
the brigade marched up the hill on the right, where were situated 
those breastworks of the enemy which Hood's Texans had 
stormed and carried a short time ago. Reaching the crest, we 
halted behind our artillery, which vomited forth a stream of fire 
upon the plain below. Nothing could be seen, the thick smoke 
nearly choking and blinding the men. The guns were served 



HOT TIMES AROUND RICHMOND 1/3 

with a will and the very ground appeared to tremble with the 
force of the concussion. The gunners were so blackened and 
begrimed by the sulphurous vapor, that they looked like blackest 
chimney sweeps. 

The fighting was indeed heavy in the pleateau below, and the 
Rebel yell and the Yankee hurrah clearly distinguishable. The 
batteries ceased their fire so as to allow us to advance. Dark- 
ness was near at hand. The line was formed, and the order given 
to "Charge bayonets !" Then the speed changed into a double- 
quick and the rush was made. The line reached the contestants; 
one volley, and all was over! An officer rode along the front, 
slightly wounded. "Boys," he exclaimed, "you came too late; 
we drove them without the reserves." 

And such was the fact ; they had carried by assault the enemy's 
works — strong positions, strongly fortified — without reserves. 
No wonder Stonewall Jackson, when he viewed that hill, said to 
the officers with him : 

"The men who stormed those forts were soldiers indeed !" 

The stars were in the sky by this time, and the brigade was 
marched to the woods about a hundred yards away, and orders 
given to bivouac for the night. Many started over the field to 
pick up such spoil as they could find ; others, not quite so fond 
of plunder, and worn out with the excitement of the day, threw 
themselves on the ground and slumbered. 

Capt. Smith called my name. I was sent for water, and car- 
ried fully a dozen canteens to be filled from the stream that ran 
through the battle-field at the bottom of the hill. Scrambling 
down as best I could in the dark, I filled the canteens from the 
running brook and took a long, steady drink ; the taste was some- 
what brackish, but then I was not fastidious — so what mattered 
it? Carrying the water, I distributed to the owners each his 
canteen. No sooner did the obliged and grateful party proceed 
to drink out their thirst than they, with one accord, spit out the 
fluid, and asked, "Where in the name of all creation did it come 
from?" The water-bearer was not by nature a patient man, 
while black ingratitude is ever distasteful to the generous soul — 
therefore he answered rather curtly, and in the worst of humors, 
that he never knew a branch to run with but one thing and that 
was water — they were at liberty to drink it or not as suited them. 

"Water!" exclaimed one faithful soul, while another, of a quietly 
investigating turn of mind, had gone to the camp-fire and poured 



174 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK 

the liquid in a cup. It was of a deep crimson hue ; he smelled it 
and pronounced it blood ! 

And blood it was. 

Hundreds, in their mad craving for water, had crawled down to 
this stream to drink and bathe their wounds in its cool running 
current, which accounted for the blood. 

But their Ganymeade had suddenly collapsed ; his spirit was 
quite broken for a day or two; his words were few — indeed he 
said, when affectionately questioned of the cause, that he was ill; 
then dropped the subject most mysteriously, and no after inquir- 
ies gained an answer. From this time on he examined with a 
private microscope every drop of water that passed his lips. 

One hour before day we formed ranks and leisurely took up 
the line of march, bearing toward the right about a mile away, 
where as stubborn a defense and as determined a storming had 
been made as we had witnessed at the Old Mills. About ten 
in the forenoon the brigade halted at a hastily thrown up breast- 
works which had been a part of the Yankee defenses, and from 
which they had been driven with much loss. These rifie-pits were 
constructed, not at the top, but at the foot of a steep hill. Directly 
in front of this work and running its entire length was a deep 
chasm or natural ditch that had been formed by the flow of water 
when heavy rains had swollen the streams to a high mark. This 
fosse of Nature's own making was about twenty feet wide and 
nearly twelve feet deep, imposing a most formidable barrier to 
any Rebel assault. The enemy's right was defended by thick woods 
a hundred yards deep, and made secure by rifle-pits on its edge. 
It will be seen that their position had been strongly chosen, for 
all in their front was open ground, half a mile across which the 
Rebel advance would have to be made. Yet it was a bad place for 
the Federals in case of retreat ; to cross a level meadow of a mile 
in extent and obtain the shelter of the woods away back would 
have been equivalent to running amuck. 

These works were heavily garrisoned, and an attack as confi- 
dently expected. To Pickett's Virginia Brigade was given this 
task of storming and capturing the line. Pickett did not charge 
it in front — well for him he did not, for the situation was simply im- 
pregnable, and any attempt to take it by direct assault would have 
eventually ended in a bloody repulse — but formed his line be- 
hind the brow of the hill, marched left oblique and carried the 
woods on the right in a run ; then swung his line by right wheel, 
and struck the enemy in reverse and rear. A heavy fight occurred 



HOT TIMDS AROUND RICHMOND I75 

here and the Virginians lost many men; but when the enemy 
broke, and instead of surrendering undertook to escape by run- 
ning through this meadow, as level as a billiard table, and in 
which were no trees nor anything to serve for protection save a 
ditch through its center, the loss was simply frightful, and the 
men were picked of¥ by hundreds. Some of the Seventeenth went 
over the field afterwards and counted between six and seven hun- 
dred dead on the ground. Most of the wounded had all been 
taken by our ambulances, in the night and early morning, and sent 
to the hospitals in Richmond. The battle of Gaines' Mill, though 
ending in our favor and practically relieving Richmond by send- 
ing McClellan back to the shelter of his gimboats, cost us 
heavily. Our loss exceeded that of the enemy, for in the whole 
battle we had been the attacking force ; our opponents fighting 
behind their breastworks. Their loss was killed and wounded 
six thousand five hundred men ; prisoners, two thousand five hun- 
dred; making a total of nine thousand. They lost by capture 
two guns, besides thousands of small-arms and munitions of 
war. The Rebel loss was nine thousand five hundred men killed 
and wounded. The moral effect of the battle was great ; on one 
side it had demoralized an ov-er-confident enemy, causing him to 
retreat and burn his stores ; while on the other it had inspired ex- 
ultation, and had given us the prestige of having defeated the 
enemy and compelled his withdrawal from the field. 

The brigade spent all day in these works, very pleasantly en- 
gaged, many of them reading the letters which were to be had 
by the thousands for the mere picking up. They were of every 
style under the sun, for human nature is much the same all over 
the world. But the love letters, the tender effusions, interested us 
most, especially those love-lorn Rebs who had none of their own. 

The plunder left by our friend Billy Yank was calculated to 
gladden the heart of every poverty-stricken Johnny, and of such 
abundance as satisfied even the rapacity of the professional camp 
follower. The ground in the vicinity was plentifully strewn with 
knapsacks; all around in the greatest profusion lay new Minie 
and Enfield rifies, which our soldiers gladly exchanged for their 
old Springfield smooth-bore muskets, altered from the ancient 
flint-lock to the percussion-cap style. Nearly every man in the 
brigade furnished himself with these new arms of approved pat- 
tern, together with the accoutrements, and there was hardly a 
soldier in Longstreet's division who did not obtain a complete 
•outfit of clothes, besides knapsacks, haversacks, blankets, oil- 



176 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

cloths, and all those munitions which add to a soldier's efficiency 
and comfort, and which now lay on the ground just ready for the 
men to help themselves. 

And they surely did. 

The Yankee knapsacks were a revelation to our impecunious 
Confederates, whose entire outfit was nothing to draw forth a 
single brag from the army itself. Each Federal had a good 
blanket, oilcloth, and overcoat rolled up and carried across his 
shoulder ; strapped on the top of his knapsack outside, he had an 
extra, suit of blue clothes for dress parade, two suits of under- 
clothing, an extra hat, and a case containing needles, thread, but- 
tons, &c. Then there were razors in nearly every knapsack 
(there was hardly one in our Seventeenth!), besides soap, brushes, 
comb, portfolio containing writing paper, stamps, flash novels, 
pens, song books, while several daguerreotypes generally com- 
pleted the inventory. Many canteens were filled with whiskey, 
which was confiscated in the most satisfactory manner without 
loss of time. Haversacks held sugar, pork, dried beef, rice and 
beans, with hard-tack of course. 

The brigade that occupied the works proved to be from the 
Empire State ; the regiment in the breastworks immediately in 
the front opposite the ditch was the Forty-fourth New York. Its 
men made a gallant fight, but must have lost nearly one-third 
their number. 

There are men in every regiment totally callous and brutal, who 
go over the battle-field and search the pockets of the fallen for 
money and watches ; nearly every one of the dead had his pockets 
turned inside out. They lay, stricken by every kind of wound. 
Some rested as calmly and serenely as if asleep ; others had their 
bodies twisted, and fingers clutched and sunk in the blood-stained 
ground, showing the agony of their dying. Many lay with eyes 
wide open to the sky, their feet to the foe, and jaws clenched 
tightly with desperate determination. Here was an old man with 
his arm extended at full length above his head, ramming the cart- 
ridge home when the bullet made that ugly hole in his forehead. 
Not a rod away was a little drummer-boy who had fallen on his 
face ; a ball had struck him in the side and he had died a hard 
death, evidently having lived hours after he was wounded, for the 
ground showed where he had tried to crawl toward his lines, leav- 
ing a bloody trail. Death might well have spared him. 

Another body, that of a young Union soldier, was calculated to 
interest and touch the hardest heart. He had been shot while 



/ 



HOT TIMES AROUND RICHMOND 177 

endeavoring to reach the shelter of the woods beyond, the flying 
ball having overtaken the fleeing form, and struck him in the 
small of the back, going clear through the body. It had not been 
an immediately fatal wound, for the earth bore evidence of his 
death-struggles; Jiis last effort had been to pray, for he had 
gotten on his knees, and his hands were clasped when nature 
yielded up the strife; he had evidently died with a prayer on his 
lips. Out of his breast-pocket protruded a photograph, which 
proved to be that of a lady, so obscured by his life-blood, and so 
torn by the passing bullet that the features were obliterated; 
some woman "watching and waiting for him — loving and praying 
for him," we said; and gently put it back upon the blood-stained 
breast, just where she would have had it stay. 

Then again there lay a pale, slender boy, who could scarcely have 
numbered sixteen years. The azure veins beat no longer be- 
neath the skin that had all the fairness of a maiden's; light hair 
was curling upon the brow in short, crisp, wavy ringlets; the 
eyes that gazed so blankly upward seemed as if heaven's own 
blue was mirrored in them ; the face was infantile in its grace and 
touching in its rare beauty and sweetness of expression — no 
sign of pain, but a smile instead, lingering on the lips ! The hands 
and feet were well shaped and small, the form almost dainty in 
its symmetry. A grape-shot had done the fell work, and he had 
simply bled to death. But tender hands — either of friend or foe 
— what matters it, had performed some last kindly office; a 
blanket had been spread over him, while another formed a pillow 
beneath the head ; a canteen half filled with water lay beside him, 
and some hasty efforts had been made to bind the gaping wound. 

Vindictive feelings toward a foe pass away at sight of the 
battle-field. None with a human breast can see the agony, the 
pools of gore, the dead without being profoundly stirred — with- 
out stopping to ponder over the hearts that are riven ; the hopes 
that are crushed; the firesides made desolate. North and South. 

Many a bullet after it has done its deadly work has stricken 
friends as well as foe ; many a ball that sped from Southern ranks 
has rebounded into Southern homes; many a Northern missile 
has found its after-mark in Northern hearts. A mother had a 
son who wore the blue and another who wore the gray. Father 
and son have fought on either side. The dearest ties of blood 
and friendship stand suddenly separated and arraigned in dead- 
liest enmity, and yet Nature will assert her sway at last; and 
12 



178 JOHNNY REB AND BII,LY YANK 

should Death intervene to lay one low, as passionate, tender tears 
are shed as if the war had been a dream. 

Strange, in a land whose people name themselves for Christ the 
Merciful, this should be so ! The commandment from the Mount, 
"love one's enemy," finds strange translation in bursting shells 
and tearing shot, and screaming bullets and gaping wounds, and 
holocausts of precious lives, and bleeding hearts, and broken 
homes and fiercest hatred. However, to the end of time "there 
shall be wars and rumors of war !" 

But in all the range of Creation, from the shore of the world's 
beginning until the Angel with one foot on sea and one foot on 
the land shall proclaim time's ending, has there ever existed, or 
ever shall exist, aught so ruthlessly, utterly, hopelessly cruel as civil 
and internecine war ? 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE BATTLE OE ERAZIER'S EARM. 

On the morning of the 29th of June the brigade started on 
the back track for Richmond, following the same road and repass- 
ing the same one it had traversed two or three days previously. 
Not a trace remained of the abandoned munitions or of the vast 
stores left by the enemy. Quartermasters and commissaries had 
taken the lion's share, while the camp-followers, country people, 
and the ubiquitous darkies, acting the part of jackals, had swept 
away the last vestige of everything that could be put to any use. 
Not a tin cup, a battered canteen, a useless musket, nor even an 
old torn rag had been overlooked; indeed, it seemed as if a vast 
army of chiffoniers and gutter-snipes had passed over the field, 
like so many Egyptian locusts, and made a clean gathering of 
pickings and sweepings in general. The only thing they had not 
carried away was Virginia's soil. 

That the movements of the army may be better understood, a 
brief outline of the campaign is given. 

In the first place it may be well to state just here, that when 
General Lee assumed command of the army he had, all told, 
Smith's division, Longstreet's, Magruder's and D. H. Hill's, one 
cavalry brigade, and one regiment of reserve artillery; in all an 
effective force of 53,688 men. Just before the Seven Days' Bat- 
tles he had been reinforced by Ripley's brigade, numbering twenty- 
three hundred and sixty-six men; Holmes's command, ten thou- 
sand strong; Lawton's Georgia Brigade of thirty-four hundred, 
and Jackson's two divisions, eight thousand two hundred and 
eighty- four; making a total of reinforcements received, twenty- 
four thousand one hundred and fifty altogether. Eighty thou- 
sand seven hundred and sixty men as the effective force of Gen- 
eral Lee. 

Opposed to this force, we have from the Official Returns of 
the Army of the Potomac, as given by Mr. Swinton in his History 
of that Army — that on the 20th of June, 1862, General McClellan 
had present for duty one hundred and fifty thousand men. 

At this time Lee had driven McClellan in two battles from his 
strongest positions, and the prestige of a great victory rested 
with the Southern army. But Lee had placed himself in a peril- 



l80 JOHNNY Rr;B AND BII,I,Y YANK 

ous position. Nearly two-thirds of his original force of less than ^ 
fifty-four thousand men were east of the Chickahominy, while the 
remaining third were on its west, of which latter number 7,000 
were across the James. Between them lay McClellan with his 
115,000, a third of which could easily have guarded the river, for 
the nature of the ground rendered any attack upon him extremely 
difficult; while with the remainder of his forces, say some sev- 
enty-six thousand strong, he might have marched into Richmond 
in a few hours. We had then but few troops in the city, and it 
is only a question whether they could have held the defenses suffi- 
ciently long to have enabled Lee to throw in reinforcements. 
The citizens of Richmond, at least those who appreciated the 
dangers of the situation, were terribly alarmed at this juncture, 
fearing just such a result ; and breathed freer when all possibility 
of an attack had passed. McClellan, for the strongest reasons, of 
which he no doubt was the best judge, determined on retreating to 
the James. 

The movement called "the change of base" means in reality a 
retreat. It was a very simple thing to accomplish on this occa- 
sion, however, and merely involved a march of fifteen miles with 
no enemy in front; but with one, supposed to be superior, on one 
flank and possibly in the rear. 

White Oak Creek falls into the Chickahominy rather south of 
the Federal left, in their position at Seven Pines. It is bordered 
by W hite Oak Swamp, which near Richmond is many yards wide, 
and slopes up into a wooded tract extending to the James. The 
main roads, the Charles City, Darby town, and New Market, 
starting from near Richmond diverge southward toward the 
Chickahominy, skirting the swamp on its southern side. The 
whole region near is intersected by obscure cross-roads, upon 
which was here and there a clearing. The roads were ankle deep 
with dust, which rose in clouds in the air as it was stirred up by 
the movement of troops. 

Lee's plan of action was simple. Magruder and Huger, with 
their divisions, were ordered to move down the Charles City and 
New Market roads, to take part in the flank attack. They were 
to be assisted by Holmes's and Wise's brigades from Fort Dar- 
ling. In this attack, intended to cut McClellan off from retreat- 
ing to the James and so surround him, the entire Southern Army 
was to take part. 

Early on the morning of the 29th the divisions of A. P. Hill 
and Longstreet crossed the Chickahominy by the new bridge, 



THE BATTLE OE ERAZIER S EARM lOl 

which had only been partiaUy destroyed on the 26th, passed 
through the deserted Union hnes ahiiost to Richmond; turned 
eastward, and heading for the White Oak Swamp, moved down 
the Darbytown road, and at nightfall encamped not far from the 
center of McClellan's retreating army. The Northern line was 
eight miles long, one end almost touching Malvern Hill while the 
other rested at the crossing of White Oak Creek. 

The bridges over the Chickahominy were down in front of 
Jackson, and he was unable to repair them until the morning of 
the 30th, having no organized Sapper and Mining Corps; and 
to this fact, more than all others combined, we attributed the mis- 
carriage of Lee's plans, and the failure of his device to envelope 
the Federal army in his toils.. This inability of Jackson to cross 
in time was the hole in the web that was being spun around the 
hornet. Had it been woven intact, whether the hornet could 
have broken through is a problem that will never be solved. As 
it was, Jackson, finding the bridges down, had to sit on the oppo- 
site side of the river all that afternoon and listen to the heavy 
battle taking place not two miles distant from him, in which he 
was expected to have been chief actor, and which his corps could 
in all probability have decided in our favor. 

Holmes and Wise had come in sight of the head of McClellan's 
column, upon whom they had opened a distant fire ; but a few 
rounds from the gimboats and heavy fire from the enemy's bat- 
teries scattered their force of raw levies, and they took no further 
part in the operations that ensued. 

Longstreet and A. P. Hill resumed their march down the 
Darbytown road, and at noon came in sight of the Union line 
drawn up at Frazier's Farm near a point where a road leading 
from the James crosses those from Richmond. 

Huger was supposed to be moving by the Charles City road to 
the same point; but he mistook the zvay, so he said, and did not 
make his appearance all that day; and for this weak and unsol- 
dierlike ignorance — to use no harsher term — he was removed 
from command by General Lee within twenty-four hours, and 
relegated to an obscure post where his proven incapacity could 
work no further harm. 

The enemy's line invited an attack, for it was so long, owing to 
the retreat and the topography of the country, of which they were 
ignorant, that its continuation was broken into great gaps. The 
Federal forces were placed : McCall, with his Pennsylvania divis- 
ion, at Frazier's Farm; on his right was Hooker's division, on his 



l82 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvI^Y YANK 

left Kearny's, while on Kearny's left was a strong force. Sum- 
ner's corps was held back in the center behind McCall, as re- 
reserves. Keyes's and Porter's corps were nearly within reach of 
Malvern Hill. Franklin's corps was in the rear at White Oak 
Creek. 

At four o'clock the attack was begun by Kemper's brigade 
upon McCall's division. It was driven back with a loss of two 
hundred and fifty killed and two hundred prisoners — one-fourth 
of the whole number. Other divisions were sent in, and forced 
McCall to retire ; but reserves from Sumner's coming up, the 
contest was prolonged until night put a stop to the conflict. The 
enemy's loss was five hundred and sixty killed and four hundred 
and fifty wounded, and several hundred prisoners. 

On the morning of July ist the Union army was strongly 
posted on Malvern Hill, an elevated plateau a mile and a half long 
and half as broad. Its flanks were well covered by woods, and 
the front protected by a gully, rendering any hostile approach 
difficult, except by the roads that crossed them. At the crest of 
the hill seven siege guns were placed in position, and the artillery 
so posted that the fire of sixty guns could be concentrated on any 
point that might chance to be assailed. Of course such a posi- 
tion could easily be held against any triple force brought to bear 
against it. 

Clearly all along the force of the foe, as seen in the light of his- 
tory, was vastly underrated in this whole campaign. When 
General Lee crossed the Chickahominy on the 26th he supposed the 
greater force of the enemy to be on the east side, but at Gaines' 
Mill, he, having a preponderance of numbers, fairly assumed that 
the Yankees were weak on the other side, otherwise they would 
have brought more men upon the field. At Frazier's Farm the 
two divisions of Hill and Longstreet were inferior to the force 
opposed to them ; and the dispositions made by Lee in the attack 
clearly evidenced that he did not suppose himself to have been 
confronted by an effective force of more than fifty thousand men. 

At nine in the morning Jackson received orders to attack. 
Including D. H. Hill's division he had, after deducting all losses, 
about thirty thousand men. Hill being on the Confederate right 
was opposed to the Union left where Hooker was posted. The 
attack was commenced, but Jackson found the heights so strongly 
fortified as to make the attempt one of sheer madness, conse- 
quently the assault was suspended ; but he was ordered to make 
the trial and of course was beaten back. Magruder, with his 



THE BATTlvE OF I^RAZIKR'S FARM 183 

Splendid division, next advanced, and met the same inevitable 
result; nevertheless, these mad, hopeless charges were kept up 
until sundown brought the sanguinary scene to a close. In this 
battle every advantage remained with the enemy, for every attack 
upon him had been defeated with great slaughter. Our loss was 
nine hundred killed and three thousand five hundred wounded, 
against three hundred and seventy-five killed and fifteen hundred 
w^ounded on their side, a proportion of nearly three to one against 
us. 

The result of the week's battles, taken as a whole, were very grat- 
ifying, for Lee in one week had raised the siege of Richmond. 
The whole Confederate loss was some 9,500 men; that of the 
Union army 6,500, besides 2,500 prisoners, 22 cannon and a vast 
quantity of small-arms. 

After this synopsis of military events the thread of the narra- 
tive is resumed just where the brigade on the morning of the 
29th had taken up the line of march. 

After a short halt the column was put in motion following hard 
on the heels of the foe ; then the brigade bore to the right and 
crossed the Chickahominy by the pontoons known as New 
Bridge, which the enemy had built and only half burned. It was 
the first thing of the kind our troops had ever seen, and it ex- 
cited our admiration by the simple yet effectual manner in which 
a deep, sluggish stream, and an apparently impassable morass could 
be crossed by long lines of soldiery — crossed without even so 
much as the wetting of a shoe. We had here before our eyes 
another proof of a hurried retreat, in the shape of a long brass 
forty-eight pounder, half submerged in the slime of the swamp, 
which had slipped from the bridge and been there abandoned. 

'Xie there, old broadside," we thought; "better there than shuf- 
fling ofif our mortal coils. Would that the rest of your Yankee 
fraternity were sleeping peacefully by your side!" 

After we had crossed the pontoons, reached the highlands and 
defiled into a meadow beyond, a sight met our eyes that caused 
the boldest to shrink back. About half a mile away was a per- 
fectly-constructed chain of breastworks, redoubts, and rifle-pits ; 
and in the embrasure of the former we could see the dull muzzles 
of the cannon pointing in our direction, while from the latter the 
bristling bayonets gave proof that the fortifications were filled 
with men. The brigade was formed in line of battle in the center 
of the meadow, and then came a halt, while several officers rode 
away to reconnoitre. The men's faces were decidedly blank, and 



184 JOHNNY ri;b and bil,i,y yank 

some hundred Testaments and Bibles were openly taken from 
pockets and conned with the same zeal that a school-boy crams 
for the holiday commencement. 

"They are not going to make us charge those works !" remarked 
one of the men. 

"We will be wiped out clean !" responded another. 

"Not a man left alive !" ejaculated a third, sadly shaking his 
head in all the solemnity of prophecy. 

"I am going to take a last chew of tobacco," said Ad. Saunders, 
of Co. A, close by — a long, slab-sided fellow, made so by attack of 
camp fever. 

"Pass that plug around, then!" answered Connie Johnson. 
"You'll have no more need of it!" 

"No I'll be d if I do," Ad. replied, returning the plug to 

his pocket decidedly. "I might get wounded ; I might be taken 

prisoner; I might Anyway, it is a handy thing to have 

around." 

^'You need not be afraid," remarked Mark Price, another of the 
crowd — a short, broad, thick-set boy. "You just turn yourself side- 
ways and no Yankee can see you to take aim at you. The only 
danger is that the wind of a cannon ball might blow you away; 
you're about as fat as a match, anyhow. As for me," he continued, 
"they might as well try to miss a barn as not hit me." 

"Boys," said Walter Addison, of the same rank and file, in most 
solemn accents, "I am not going to set the example, but the first 
man I see running, I hope I may die if I don't follow him !" 

"Well," soliloquized John Zimmerman, of a philosophical turn, 
"a man can't die but once; and we are all bound to get killed 
before this war's ended, so what's the odds !" 

Just then I saw a fine rifle, of the latest pattern, lying near, so I 
slipped out of the ranks to exchange it for an old Springfield 
musket; and it so happened that precisely at that moment our 
colonel came riding by. Seeing a man out of his place his wrath 
knew no bounds, and he shouted out in such stentorian tones that 
the whole regiment heard him. 

"Fire and brimstone! What are you doing out of ranks? 
-Fall in there instantly, do you hear ? And, Alex Hunter, if I catch 
you at it again I will send you straight back home !" 

"I hope you will, Colonel," I responded; "I hope you will, for 
though I never want to be drummed out of the army — there's no 
place like home now, I'm thinking." 

A roar of laughter followed this remark ; for there was not a 



The BATTLE 01^ FRAZIER'S EARM 185 

man present who did not feel at this hour that home had never 
before held such charms — such allurements. 

Soon the officers returned and reported that they were our 
men and not Yankees who were garrisoning the works. A smile 
illuminated each face, that broadened into a full broadside of a 
grin. The playing cards so repentantly thrown aside were care- 
fully and painstakingly gathered up ; Bibles sought their wonted 
retreats, and a most genial feeling of relief was felt. As we ap- 
proached the works abandoned by the foe, now manned by our 
own men, cheers greeted us instead of shot and shell. 

We kept up a steady tramp, and as the day advanced the rays 
of the sun became more and more ardent, while the marching was 
beginning to tell upon the men. No halt at all was allowed, not 
even to give us time to eat or drink. Toward the afternoon the 
gait became almost a run, and with scattered ranks we went at a 
sling trot, almost blinded with the dust, which lay nearly ten 
inches deep, and had been so trodden and ground down by the 
wheels of the artillery and the feet of thousands that it was ready 
now to fly out at the slightest breath of air. Like the patient worm 
it turned under the foot that crushed it, rose aloft in wrath, filled 
our eyes, noses and mouths with an impalpable powder, and 
whitened our clothes as much as the meal dust does the miller's. 
It was simply impossible to keep in close ranks ; that would have 
resulted in nothing short of suffocation. Every now and then 
the men spread out like an opened fan into a field to get fresh, un- 
burdened air. 

To add to our troubles we were tortured with thirst. Water 
was very scarce, not a full canteen in the whole brigade, and when 
we passed a house that had a well, hundreds of soldiers would 
rush toward it, and such a scene would then ensue as made the 
good people of the domicile hold up their hands in holy horror. 
A frenzied crowd, struggling, pushing, fighting, cursing, trying in 
mad efforts to reach the brink ; and when the bucket was drawn 
up, fifty hands holding fifty tin cups extended, and in their eager- 
ness spilling half the precious water! Fortunately we passed a 
running stream, and in a moment a line extended for half a mile 
up and down its banks, many throwing themselves down at full 
length and, like animals, lapping the grateful, cooling liquid ; but 
not one soldier in a dozen got a mouthful ; I know I did not, and 
I almost went mad. I thought with Sheridan, "All that I have, 
all that I am, all that I hope for ; my property here, my interest 
in heaven — all would I give for a full drink of water." What 



l86 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK 

queer, yet most painful, tantalizing pictures flit through the brain 
of a man who hungers or is athirst. I thought of the enticing pic- 
tures of the "Gardens of the Faithful,'' as told in the Koran, and of 
the fountains running with frozen sherbet ; I recalled that ^ex- 
quisite ode from Horace wherein Naera, with "ruddy, glowing 
arm," holds out the earthen cup of freezing, snowy goat milk, 
while on the other hand Lydia extends with a Circean smile a sil- 
ver flagon "filled to the brim" with old Falerian wine chilled with 
snow. 

All that afternoon our speed was not relaxed, and we kept on 
at the same rate, the officers urging the men forward. It proved 
too great a task for many; the clouds of dust, the difficulty of 
walking, the impeded breath, the extreme heat began to tell; 
many, completely exhausted, began to fall out of ranks. The ther- 
mometer was over 90 in the shade. Satan only knows what it 
was in the open air. Some staggered and fell with sunstroke, 
and were laid out on the road-side and left with the doctors. 

About four o'clock scores of men lined the highway, while 
some had even fallen dead. Later on in the evening there were 
hundreds reclining under the shadow of friendly trees, utterly 
prostrated and unable to move a foot farther. 

It was not that the men were shirking or straggling, — there 
was very little of that, — but they had simply given out and nature 
had rebelled against the inexorable task. 

The sun set, blazing defiance as it did so; and the sultriness 
did not seem to decrease. Darkness came on. but still the cry was 
"Forward !" The men who had not so far succumbed, with 
jackets off, wet with perspiration, their waists girded tightly, did 
their best, and dog-trotted at the rate of six miles an hour. They 
had reached a state of sulkiness, and each man determined to keep 
up if it should kill him ; but nearly a third fell from exhaustion, 
and the rest of the soldiers staggered down the road like drunken 
men, before the order to halt was heard ; but at last, about eleven 
o'clock that night, the welcome cry was given. Foot-sore and 
with chafed limbs, the soldiers, too tired to eat, fell in their tracks, 
lying on both sides of the road for a mile or more, motionless as 
if they had been slain in battle. No sound came from that inert 
mass except the panting, — like hounds broken down, with the 
scent cold and the quarry lost. 

We were up at the earliest dawn, and after eating our crack- 
ers and a slice of raw meat, prepared to move. It was a lovely 



THE BATTLE OF ERAZIER'S FARM iSj 

morning, that thirtieth of June, 1862, and a day to be remembered 
by all. 

We kept our onward march very leisurely now, frequently halt- 
ing. The scene was enlivening; long columns of infantry, in the 
vicinity of Frazier's Farm, could be seen wending their way to take 
up their positions; batteries of artillery went by at a gallop, the 
horses white with foam ; stragglers were beginning to drop into 
line and the ranks were pretty full ; this was optional with them, 
for then we had no provost guard to hurry the men up from the 
rear; the troops were in good spirits. It is astonishing what 
magic power for recuperation there is in a good sleep and a 
humble breakfast. No one would have recognized these serried, 
solid lines of infantry as the same hurrying, jaded-looking stream 
of men that seemed last night more like fugitives than anything 
else. 

On the road which we were so leisurely pursuing were many 
cherry and mulberry trees in full bearing. Against the most 
stringent orders, the soldiers would break ranks and fill the 
branches with a struggling, clamorous crowd, cramming the fruit 
by the handfuls into their mouths, breaking the boughs and pitch- 
ing them down to comrades below, for whom there was no room 
above, while they made the welkin ring with their shouts of 
laughter. And the trees ! one moment vigorous with growing 
life, rich in shade-giving leaves and brilliant in their red-hued 
fruit, the next, — a stump with a few stick twigs extending there- 
from, and a leaf only here and there, that rather displayed its 
poverty than served to cover its nakedness. 

About three o'clock we halted on the verge of a large swamp 
and lay on our arms ; we failed to hear the echo of a distant gim, 
whose music had so filled our ears for the past week that we had 
come to miss it when it stopped. All Nature seemed asleep, and 
many of the soldiers had followed her illustrious example. Na- 
ture and soldiers both suddenly awoke, and stayed awake, it is 
needless to say, for the rest of that day. 

Cannonading had begun on our left, and increased with every 
moment; battery after battery along our line, to the right and 
to the left, merged and intermingled, until not one seemed want- 
ing in the chorus, as in one of Sebastian Bach's fugues, where the 
first violin leads off alone, and then one by one each instrument 
joins in until there comes the grand crash of the whole orchestra. 

We had had no idea that the enemy was so close to us until 
they began to compliment us in such wise, saluting us with mes- 



1 88 JOHNNY REB AND BII.I,Y YANK 

sages of cannon whose shells sang joyful sounds to the far off as 
they sailed through the air. Now there is something honest, 
rough and straightforward about solid shot — it goes straight to 
the mark and scorns anything crooked ; there is nothing mean 
about it, it is open and blunt, and turns neither to the right nor 
left for anything; if it hits you it does so squarely, after a timely 
Avarning of the wrath in store, and then only because you get into 
its way; it likes a clear, rich, full, parabolic sweep; all its methods 
are lofty in scope and big in execution. So too with a Minie- 
bullet; it follows the solid on general principles, and is as inde- 
pendent as the Fourth of July, and as cool as an iceberg ; it has the 
most killing ways about it. 

There is something rascally low and mean about a shell — it 
never goes straight, it is never reliable ; it always starts so high 
and ends so low; and then again it is a born spy. If there 
chances to be a dark wood a half mile away, a shell is sent there to 
try to find out whether or not anybody is lurking within. If a 
half dozen scared, harmless men are running to the rear, what is 
it but a cowardly shell which flies after them and fairly bursts 
itself to stop them. If there be an ambulance skulking along the 
road, the shell must go across to see what it is doing there; it 
has a sardonic way of screaming as it approaches you, the bully 
that it is, to frighten the heart into your mouth and induce you 
to run, for it has no notion of letting you up if it can help it, any 
more than a cat with a mouse; it loves to strike a man who is 
down, and it will not prove a good stroke either; not straight 
from the shoulder, but piecemeal. It will tear the body from the 
soul and lacerate the flesh and mangle the bones ; like a fiend pos- 
sessed, it will not only aim for you but for your friends also; in 
fine, it is sneaking, tyrannical and cruel, and if there is any dirty 
work to be performed, the shell is ready for the task. 

On our left the musketry began to play, and soon the battle 
raged. The shells flew and burst around, and then followed an 
hour of torturing suspense. The same scene that we passed 
through at Gaines' Mill, was reenacted here. At last, a little 
after four o'clock, the whole brigade, in line of battle, swept for- 
ward ; it passed through a narrow swamp, nearly dry from the ex- 
cessive drought, and entered on a broad meadow beyond. The 
men advanced on a run, one straight, unbroken line, with the 
guns before them at a charge, the bayonets like lances projecting 
forward and fencing off the rays of the sun, the colors waving 



THE BATTI.E OE FRAZIER'S FARM 1 89 

proudly, while thousands of feet beat the earth in rhythmical time, 
the officers well in front with their unsheathed swords in hand. 

It was indeed a gallant array for the moment, and many eyes 
brightened at the glorious spectacle. Across the fields, with ranks 
as perfectly dressed as in a review, the brigade was double-quick- 
ing, and not a shot was fired upon it. Across the field, into the 
dark, gloomy recesses of the swamp, the line entered. The trees 
were not close, but the vegetation was rank ; the trailing vines 
were thick and barred the view. We could only see a few paces 
distant; we lost sight of our proud line and struggled to keep in 
dressed order, but it was impossible. A fence broke the forma- 
tion as we climbed over it zig-zag, and then in somewhat loose 
fashion the Seventeenth reached the other side of the swamp, and 
entered into a border of thick wood. Here a full volley of musk- 
etry came in our faces. 

"Too high, Messieurs !" The balls skimmed the branches and 
perforated the leaves, but not a man fell ; not a gun answered 
from our ranks, the officers shouting to us to hold our fire. Re- 
ducing our pace we straightened the line instinctively as each 
shoulder touched that of his next comrade. 

"Guide center to the colors" was always understood in battle. 

We crossed the woods, not fifty feet wide, and entered into an 
apparently impassable swamp overshadowed by lofty oak and 
gum trees, whose tops so interlaced as to shut out the light. 
The ground was seamed with ditches and gulleys, and miry to 
the feet, the black ooze in some places permitting us to sink to 
the knees. It was right in front of the enemy, and well did they 
choose their position, for no troops could charge in any order 
across that stretch of brambles, trees and mire. 

The regiment kept as even ranks as was possible under such 
untoward circumstances, but some of the men would tumble into 
the ditches and climb out, while others would sink into the mud. 
Many dashing, reckless soldiers surged ahead in spite of all order, 
for the bullets were now striking in our midst and doing execu- 
tion, consequently the line was rendered most uneven and 
irregular. 

After struggling along in this manner we came to a fence ; 
across this each man swung himself and then stopped a moment 
to reform. That line was destined to dress by neither the cen- 
ter nor the right for some time afterwards, for no sooner were we 
across than a column of fire opened upon us ; a battery of six 
guns vomited its grape and canister into our midst at pistol-shot 



190 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

distance, and the noise of the balls cutting their way through all 
obstacles was incessant and most fearful. The men fell on their 
knees and held their muskets at "ready." We could not see ten 
yards before us, but the enemy had our range and were making 
the situation unusually hot. 

"Fire! Aim low, men!" and at the command, flames streamed 
from the musket-barrels. Then we stood, and it was give and 
take for about a quarter of an hour. 

The officers gave but one order — one single one: "Aim low, 
men ; aim low !" 

We were outnumbered, we saw that, but none knew how great 
the odds were ; had we possessed the knowledge which we gained 
afterwards, our soldiers at this juncture would have struck for the 
rear without pulling trigger; but the heavy, rolling volleys from 
their line, and the light rattling ones from ours by way of simple 
contrast, were not long in disclosing to the most ignorant the 
unvarnished, unpalatable truth. Our salvation was only due to 
the elevation of their fire. Most of us were either crouching 
down and firing, or were protected by the trees; fortunately, also, 
our line occupied a shght dip in the ground about a foot or two 
deep, and this saved many from the stream of iron and lead com- 
ing vengefully toward us; besides, it became such hard work, 
firing and loading, that we had but little time to look around or 
think upon the odds. 

The Yankees had been reinforced. A heavy musket fire then 
opened, while their aim became truer and more dangerous. Evi- 
dently the flash of our guns had shown clearly our position, for 
the opposing lines were not over seventy-five yards apart. Men 
began to drop fast; some remaining where they had fallen, oth- 
ers limping or hopping away to the rear. Just as we were fight- 
ing and dying our gamest and best, we heard the Yankee hurrah 
on both our flanks, their fire enfilading us from three quarters 
of the compass. But firing from the front was just as much as 
our patience could be induced to stand, inasmuch as we had but 
one pair of hands in front, no side arms, and so the game was up. 
The order came "Retreat," and to those who heard it, it was 
sauve qui pent. 

Regimental officers and men broke and scattered. Some 
sought the rear, others rushed about, too excited to know ex- 
actly what course to follow. The fire of the enemy was now at 
its height and our soldiers were dropping by fives and tens ; a 
few still kept up the contest; concealing themselves in the fis- 



the; battle; oi^ e'razier's farm 191 

sures and chasms, they would load, rise, deliver their fire and dis- 
appear again into their hidden security. 

No man could take note of the movements of the regiment 
about this time, for each individual was acting under his own 
orders — general, colonel, captain and private all combined in 
his own consciousness. The timid were striking for the rear, 
the cautious were snugly ensconced in the ditches awaiting de- 
velopments; the reckless and the bulldogs ramming home their 
cartridges with unrelenting ardor and aiming carefully along the 
lay of the land before they pulled their triggers, for no enemy 
was visible. 

The finale was near at hand. 

In a very short time, a few moments it seemed, a Yankee line 
of battle in close order came trailing through the woods. Four 
of us — Boyer, Ballenger, Hector Eaches and myself — threw our 
muskets into the ditches and tumbled in after them just in time 
to have the blue-coats spring over our heads. 

Then, rising in the rear of their line of battle and perceiving a 
great group of Yankees not ten feet off, we scrambled out and 
halloed : 

■'Billy Yank, we surrender!'' 

"All right, Johnny, come along." And we trotted after them 
contentedly. 

"Are you badly hurt?" one of them inquired of me. 

I looked and found my trowsers covered with blood. There- 
upon I proceeded to find out, pulled up my breeches, rolled up 
my drawers and — "No, not a scratch," I answered. 

In truth, it was the blood of some unfortunate, splashed over 
me; whose, I did not remember nor would I ever know, nor did 
I waste much time in thinking over it; I felt that the battle was 
over and I was not dead, neither was I in heaven, nor yet — the 
other place. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

SIGHTS AND SCENES IN PRISON. 

With two guards apiece we made our way to the rear, seeing at 
a glance what madness it had been to send a brigade against such 
a force as this — a six-gun battery in our front, one on each flank, 
with McCall's whole Pennsylvania Division in the advance, 
backed by a heavy reserve ; another mistake, with a heavy slaugh- 
ter, of course, for us. 

It was an exciting time. This wide road was filled with march- 
ing soldiers, batteries of artillery dashed by, hardly discernible in 
the huge clouds of dust which they raised. Brigade after brigade 
was taking position, going in a double-quick, as if they had no 
time to spare. How martial and soldier-like they looked, too! 
How distinguished in their uniforms ! Used as we had been 
to the varying variegated shades of homespun and butternut, 
which were as ugly as unpretending, the spectacle of those blue- 
coats, their gleaming arms, together with their bold, warlike ap- 
pearance, their high discipline, struck us with admiration, a little 
mixed with wonder. 

The struggle was at its height ; a vast volume of firing swelled 
up in a grand refrain. The field was filled with stragglers, and 
the slightly wounded were coming out of the fight by hundreds. 

A brigade passed us on a run to the front, each man with a 
spade strapped to his left hip. At that time we did not know the 
exact use of those implements so carried, unless it was to bury 
their dead ; it never occurred to our minds that they were used 
to throw up rifle-pits in case of need. 

After a retreat of about a mile our conductors halted where 
there were some prisoners seated on the ground, surrounded by 
a heavy guard. We were turned in amongst the throng and to 
our delight found others, ten or twelve of the Seventeenth Regi- 
ment. 

Misery certainly does love company ; no one can deny that 
sentiment in the unregenerate heart of man. To our eager 
questionings, they could make no reply, having been, like our- 
selves, scattered from the main body, and gathered up singly or 
in groups of two or three, by the enemy, who took them in just 
as a crack sportsman would pick up the dispersed partridges after 
the covey had been flushed. 



SIGHTS AND SCENES IN PRISON I93 

The uproar was by this time fairly deafening, while the mingled 
clouds of smoke and dust hung like a pall over where the blue and 
gray had locked horns. It was a great fight that was raging, and 
momentous issues were at stake, so we sat there most absorb- 
ingly interested. We did all that our individual efforts could do; 
all now that remained of duty was to take matters as quietly as 
possible. It soon becomes a soldier's philosophy to waste no 
time in vain longing or fruitless regrets, so we watched the de- 
nouement. 

An hour had passed and still the firing had not lessened. It 
appeared to be a dogged, persistent, face-to-face, foot-to-foot, stand 
up conflict. ^ 

"'Would their reserves never give out?" we asked each other 
as brigades and divisions flowed onward to the woods; and "Can 
we ever face such a force as they have massed in column?" 

The answer came sooner than had been expected, for in one 
supreme moment the noise of the artillery and musketry reached 
such an infernal clamor that it seemed that the last day on earth 
had come and the sleepers were to be awakened from their 
graves. Every face was pale, both of prisoners and guards. A 
thousand stragglers were rushing frantically to the rear, and the 
battle's thunder came closer. The blue-coats were falling back 
— no one could doubt that, but there was nothing of a rout in 
those serried lines, only a giving of the ground, inch by inch. 

More closely yet sounded the roaring of the guns, and a stream 
of wounded now broke through the solid ranks, some without 
their knapsacks and bare-headed, some panic-stricken ; but there 
was nothing in that — even veterans would tremble as they entered 
into or retired from the mouth of such a fire-smitten hell. 

We were forced to make still another retrograde movement of 
several hundred yards, for the Rebel shells were bursting uncom- 
fortably close, and the Yankee batteries were taking position im- 
mediately in front of us. The dust was blinding, it settled over 
everything; it covered horses and men with a dry coating, it 
stung our faces like so many gnats ; we breathed it, we swallowed 
it, it lined our throats and inflamed our lungs, it made our eyes 
blood-shot, it parched our tongues, it was impalpable, ubiquitous, 
. and almost maddening ; withal there was no water to be had. 

Just as the sun was sinking behind the woods, quiet settled over 
the front of the battle-ground ; even the skirmishers had stopped 
their firing, when a brigadier general with his staff rode up to our 
squad and opened conversation : 
13 



194 JOHNNY RF,B AND BILI.Y YANK 

"What brigade do you belong to?" he asked. 

"Kemper's," some one answered. 

"Where is Jackson's force?" 

"In your rear, I reckon." 

"Is Longstreet commanding in our front in person?" 

"Reckon so, haven't seen him," 

"Is it true that General Lee is killed?" 

"No, it's a damn lie." 

Just as he was about to ride of¥. one of his aides — a spruce 
young fellow in a natty uniform — said to me: 

"What are you Rebels fighting for, anyway?" 

The question struck me there and then as supremely ludicrous. 
Here were we Virginians standing on our own soil, fighting on 
our native heath against an invading army, defending what every 
man holds dear — his home and fireside. As well ask a game-cock 
why he crows and bares his spurs on his own dung-hill. So I 
replied : 

"We are fighting to protect our mint-beds." 

There was an Irishman on the stafT, and he nearly fell off his 
saddle ; he spurred his horse forward and slapped me on the 
shoulder and said : 

"True for ye, me boy, there's not a lad in ould Ireland that 
wouldn't do the same for his poteen." 

Even the brigadier smiled, and said that he had heard often of 
a Virginia julep but never had tasted one, and the group clattered 
away, laughing. 

Again, for the last time, the approaching storm of battle forced 
both guards and prisoners back. It was dusk when this occurred, 
and the sounds of the battle died away with remarkable sudden- 
ness, only one rattling volley, then silence. 

"The same story over again," we thought. "A desperate strug- 
gle, blood flowing like water, and nothing decisive." 

The night was lovely; a full moon slowly rose from the hori- 
zon, and its resplendent light made the scene almost as bright as 
day; the soft rays covered the earth with a mantle of charity, 
hiding what was rough and unseemly, and bringing out in greater 
beauty all that was fair and lovely before. They "made a fairy- 
land of fallow fields," they touched the woods with mellow radi- 
ance ; they entered the soldier's heart and softened it with 
thoughts of home ; they breathed upon the air, so lately rent with 
the mad sounds of vengeful strife, a holy "peace, be still ;" they 
calmed the fierce passions of contending armies into a lull that 



SIGHTS AND SCENES IN PRISON I95 

had the solemn quiet of cathedral aisles fragrant with the incense 
of ascending- pra3'er; they rested as softly and solemnly on the 
faces of the dead as would some farewell kiss, dedicating them to 
their future rest, lovingly, like the benediction of God. 

The prisoners could not sleep, but sat in a circle and talked 
over the events of the day. The Yankees around us had claimed 
a victory, but we knew^ better than that ; at the very best for 
them, it could have been only a drawn battle. Our sole anxiety, 
therefore, w-as for our regiment and brigade. We knew the loss 
must have been heavy, charging with a single line such a heavy 
force in front : so we waited and watched anxiously for news. 
Prisoners, singly and in squads, w'ere being brought in every few 
minutes now. 

Here we had conclusive evidence before our eyes that the 
accounts of the demoralization of the Yankees, which had been 
told and believed by our troops, had not the slightest truth or the 
barest foundation. These soldiers around us were full of enthusi- 
asm, they actually claimed every engagement that had taken place 
within the last few days. When asked why McClellan was re- 
treating and burning his stores l>ehind him, they replied that he 
was merely consolidating his forces with the intention of taking 
Richmond in the rear ; that it was, in other words, only a volun- 
tary change of base. Never was an army in better plight than 
the Army of the Potomac on that evening of the thirtieth of June. 
1862. 

A murmuring sound way off in the distance attracted our at- 
tention ; it came nearer, rising louder every minute, until it 
swelled into a mighty shout as thousands upon thousands of 
voices rang out their enthusiastic cheers. Asking the meaning of 
this demonstration, a soldier, in answer, pointed out a group of 
passing horsemen, which he said were "Little Mac" and his stafif. 
It was not quite light enough to distinguish the features of the 
commanding general, nor was he sufficiently near, but we could 
see that he held his hat above his head in acknowledgment of 
the tribute his soldiers paid him. 

At last, overcome by fatigue, we lay down in the middle of the 
road in the dust, for we had neither blankets nor overcoats, and 
like a litter of pigs, nestled closely for comfort. Hardly had we 
fallen asleep before the cry of "Here comes the cavalry!" scat- 
tered guards and prisoners right and left. It was a false alarm, 
but it was some time before everything was serene again. 

How easy to have escaped during that stampede, especially as 



196 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

the dust had made it hard to distinguish between friend and foe. 
None of us thought of it till afterwards, except one, a member of 
the Seventeenth, who had quietly stolen away. 

Coolness and self-possession are not always inherent; they are 
faculties that need training well and long in the rough school of 
experience ere they stand one in good stead. 

About ten o'clock the prisoners were formed into line for a 
long march. The ofBcer in command told us that we should ob- 
serve perfect silence en route ; that our lives depended on a 
strict obedience to this order as the guard would bayonet any 
prisoner who might venture to offend by so much as a word. It 
is needless to say that the most talkative man in the squad soon 
became remarkably mute. Our faces \\ere then turned toward 
the James River and we commenced our silent march. Not a syl- 
lable was even whispered, nor did we stop at all, except to let 
troops pass and repass every now and then, which they did with- 
out so much as the rasping of a gun or the jingle of a canteen 
against a bayonet resting within the scabbard. It was a weird 
scene! the moving of that noiseless host through the shadows 
which the pine trees cast beneath the moon. Almost as if the 
disembodied souls from the Seven Days' Battles had taken form 
again, and were marching phantom-like to the sound of spirit 
music through the woods, joining forces and moving in one vast 
procession into the unseen world. 

We could easily see that this road was the open line of their 
retreat, which they were fearful might be closed ; hence all this 
secrecy and silence. This looked more as if the Yankees were es- 
caping from a trap set by the Rebels than a victorious army taking 
a new position. 

The march became wearisome after a while, and both 
guards and prisoners had hard work to keep their eyes open. A 
few of us started to escape several times, but wanted the nerve. 
It looked so easy to jump by the weary, unsuspecting guards into 
the dark recesses of the woods before they could fire. Indeed it 
is not certain whether, under the circumstances, they would have 
fired. Every prisoner there could have gotten away that night 
had he only made a rush. 

The small procession was halted about one o'clock, in a small 
field on the edge of the swamp, and were asleep, all of them, before 
they could have been introduced to that ambiguous Mr. Jack 
Robinson had he come along for that special' honor ; but a dozen 
times were we aroused from our rest and made to fall into line 



SIGHTS AND SCENES IN PRISON 19/ 

and then drop down overcome, only to be aroused again and tor- 
tured until we prayed for the light — destruction — anything, 
rather than the darkness and disturbance. 

The dawn came at last, faintly tinging the fog, and resting on 
the swamp like a dark veil, heavy, opaque and damp. The mists 
seemed determined to contest the advance of the day-god, but 
when the sun rose above the tree-tops it swept away its phantom 
foe with a few glancing beams, and soon set the earth simmering 
in a sickly heat. 

Falling in line, hungry, unwashed and unrested, still keeping 
the road, we soon overtook another squad of prisoners belonging 
to the Seventeenth. Hector Eaches was limping painfully along 
with them, a buck-shot having lodged in his knee-pan. 

After about three hours' march our captors came in sight of the 
James River and there halted for a time. The sun's beams 
poured down ; the river shone like burnished silver ; before us lay 
broad, sloping meadows, reaching away for miles, with not so 
much as a grove to intercept the view. On this immense plateau 
were two corps of McClellan's army, looking as fresh as if they 
had never fired a gun or marched a mile. One of our number 
said that he tried to count the regiments by the flags, and had 
reached as high as twenty-five when he lost the tally. There could 
not have been less than twenty thousand men. 

Keeping on we soon reached Harrison's Landing, and to our 
surprise and universal satisfaction saw sitting under the trees 
about seventy of the Seventeenth Regiment, with Colonel Marye 
at their head. There were three captains, nearly a dozen lieuten- 
ants and the balance rank and file; they were busily engaged in 
some discussion, and when we perceived each familiar face a mu- 
tual shout went up and handshakings were liberally indulged in 
all around. 

Now for the first time we learned all about the battle and the 
extent of our loss. Nearly five hundred men were killed, cap- 
tured and wounded in the brigade, fully one-fourth of the whole 
number. The Seventeenth had lost one-third of its fighting 
strength. Company A suffered severely ; four killed outright, 
nine wounded badly, thirteen prisoners. Conrad Johnson was 
seen lying at the foot of a tree, dead. A staunch friend, and as. 
fearless as any soldier who ever sighted musket! Brave, true 
heart! 

That band of captives resolved themselves Into an indignation 
meeting, in which the blame of the present disaster to the bri- 



198 JOHNNY RI^B AND BILLY YANK 

gade was laid at the door of the brigadier ; a second time had 
that crack organization been rushed into the jaws of destruction 
through his gross mismanagement ; it seemed he had ordered his 
command to advance into an unfamiliar, interminable swamp for 
the purpose of capturing a battery on the other side. How many 
supports that battery had or just where the battery was, he had 
not the slightest conception, nor did he send skirmishers before 
attacking; instead, he formed the line, with no reserves, no sup- 
ports in the rear. With what results? Just what might have 
been anticipated : the brigade dashed like incoming waves upon 
a rock, in the form of McCall's division with its heavy reserve 
force, and in place of a single battery (as it had been assumed 
they would attack and capture), they found — a whole battalion 
of artillery. When we charged in such poor strength, the re- 
serve division flanked our limited line, and took the troop by 
flank and front; the other regiments made their escape, but only 
by running the gauntlet and incurring heavy loss. 

Comment was not wanting, and conjectures upon the — well, 
say mistake if you will, were severe among the rank and file. 
Good God ! to think of one thousand of the very flower of the 
Old Dominion sacrificed by the incompetence of a man who 
surely should have known better, caused the privates of the Sev- 
enteenth to use language strong, indignant and to the point. 

The color-bearers of the command had gotten out safely with 
their flags, which was all the consolation we could manage to ex- 
tract from such an accumulation of woes. 

We remained in this cool, shady grove all day, for which we 
were duly thankful. We had rations issued ; crackers, coffee, 
sugar and meat of good quality and fair quantity. The rumbling 
of artillery in the vicinity of Richmond became more frequent 
as twilight drew toward night, and as we lay stretched at ease, 
enjoying the glories of that exquisite summer evening, we could 
not help but remember that the contest of the Titans was being 
now enacted, and that yonder setting sun was sinking behind a 
sea of blood. 

The next morning it commenced raining and we were ordered 
into ranks and marched one or two miles, only stopping when we 
had reached the marshiest bottom possible to find. There a 
square was marked out on the ground, around the edges of which 
the sentinels were posted; and we learned for the first time the 
meanins: of a dead-line. 



SIGHTS AND SCENES IN PRISON 199 

It was simply a line drawn upon the ground, a step beyond 
which was death. 

All that day we had literally to "stand it," for the ground was 
too wet to sit upon, and the rainfall which always follows a great 
battle now came down in a continuous stream, just as if Nature 
had many ugly stains to wash away from earth or else was weep- 
ing for her children, for their wrath, their wounds, their dead, 
with great splashes of tears which knew no stint or comfort. 

The space in which we were confined was very limited, indeed 
not larger that a moderate-sized sheepfold, and the mud trodden 
by many feet was soon a mire. It was tiresome rather, standing 
first on one foot then on another, like an old rooster. The hours 
dragged by and then came the evening, but with no diminution of 
the rain nor of our misery; our faces were well washed by this 
time. The hope of being removed to some place of shelter, a 
hope which we had fondly cherished, was doomed to disappoint- 
ment, for the painful truth forced itself upon the mind that we 
were to spend the night in this worse than hog pen. Our officers, 
field and stafT, fared better, having been put, as a signal mark of 
favor, in a corn-house near by. 

The Federal rank and file of the Army of the Potomac were 
not held in the estimation of their officers as in the Army of 
Northern Virginia. It was a rare thing for men of great wealth 
or high social standing to be found carrying a musket or swinging 
a sabre. At the beginning of the war, when brimming over with 
patriotism, all classes rushed to volunteer, but when war became 
a business, any man with any degree of prestige or influence 
sought and obtained shoulder straps. In our army it was differ- 
ent; there was not a company, in the Virginia forces at least, 
vvhere the privates were not the social equal of their officers. 
When the son of the Commander-in-Chief. Robert E. Lee, served 
as a private he made an example that all were proud to follow. 
The women of the South made it a point to honor the private 
in the ranks above all others. 

Dark ! yes, pitch dark, the essence of blackness and a flood 
coming down at the same time. The question we ruefully asked 
each other was, "Where are we to sleep?" "What are we going 
to do?" As we stood shivering, with water above our army bro- 
gans, the situation was deplorable; not one of us had a blanket, 
much less an overcoat ; nothing but our simple jackets, which 
had become thoroughly soaked during the first five minutes of 
rain. We shouted to the sentinels, we appealed to the officer of 



200 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

the day when he came to reheve guard, but a rough answer was 
all he vouchsafed. Huddled close together like cattle, some stood 
in sullen silence, others cursed and swore, a few in a desperate 
effort chanted a social glee, while Hartley, the best singer in 
the regiment, and like poor Yorick, "a fellow of infinite jest," 
caused a spasmodic grin to pass over the faces of the most miser- 
able as he sang the sea song, "I'm afloat," then he ended by ring- 
ing out, as it seemed in mockery, that gay camp song, "A soldier's 
the life for me, boys." 

Some of the "Billy Yanks" showed us most disinterested kind- 
ness by sharing with us their hot coffee and doing all in their 
power to alleviate our woes, but they were not at liberty to carry 
us to shelter nor to give us blankets; however, we thanked them 
in our hearts for what they had done and would have done. 

It was very chilly and our teeth were chattering so we could 
scarcely eat our crackers, for we knew the rain would saturate 
them in the thin haversacks, and a soldier eats by instinct. How 
stiff, aching and numbed were our poor legs. 

The voices so lately chanting their songs now sank to a dismal 
howl, then to a savage muttering, and soon even that was stilled. 

In this manner we passed the greater part of the night, and 
when at last fatigue had made us insensible to the mud, the water, 
and the rain, we crept close together, and lying down with caps 
drawn over our faces, forgot our misery in the oblivion of sleep. 

The drum beating for guard-mounting awoke the prisoners to 
a scene which was not enlivening. It was still raining and the 
men were numbed and stiffened by the exposure of sleeping 
on the ground, their features wearing a look of dumb misery. 

"The rain it reigneth every day;" it came down when it was 
time that any reasonable pour would have held up ; but the 
leaden-hued sky did not show a rift in the clouds. The men were 
not allowed to move out of the narrow limits, not even to get 
water to drink ; what they used was obtained from the little holes 
or miniature wells which they hollowed out with their hands in 
the mire ; it was so muddy, brackish and filthy, that nothing but 
the sternest necessity compelled them to drink it. Imagine water 
out of the puddles in a barnyard, and some idea may be gained 
of what this form of suffering was — of what we had to endure. 

We now beheld the strict discipline that prevailed in the ranks 
of the Regular Army of the United States, and in what low con- 
sideration the soldiers were held by the shoulder-strapped officers. 

On one occasion during the gaiard-mounting of the regiment, 



SIGHTS AND SCENES IN PRISON 201 

which was the Eighth United States Regulars, as the officer of 
the day was going through the routine of inspecting muskets of 
the men detailed for guard duty, he came across one weapon 
which was slightly rusty ; taking it out of the bearer's hands he 
deliberately drew back and drove the butt end of the musket full 
in the soldier's face, knocking him backward and mangling his 
features terribly. 

No notice was taken of the cowardly act and the brute kept 
on down the line. Had one of the officers so treated a private 
in the Confederate Army he would have been bayoneted on the 
spot; had the overseer on a Virginia plantation so punished a 
slave, the master, had he been a gentleman, would have shot him 
in an instant. 

Our pen was now changed from mud into a liquid slime. It 
was impossible for the men to become any muddier, dirtier, or 
more thoroughly soaked, so they lay down in the filth that exen 
a hog might reject. But where was the remedy? The Yankee 
guard and soldiers cried shame at our treatment, and noble fel- 
lows that they were, did the only thing that was in their power 
to mitigate the wretchedness, shared their hot coffee ; but the 
officers took no notice of our complaints. 

Toward evening the prisoners became reckless and desperate, 
for they saw it was impossible to spend another night in that 
quagmire already up to the knees, and in which none could have 
lain down without sinking beneath the surface. We shouted so 
long and loud for our colonel, that he came to us under guard, 
and when he saw^ our condition — so dirty, muddy and swinish 
indeed, that it hardly needed the touch of Circe's wand to con- 
vert us into hogs, a more angry man it would have been hard to 
find in the two armies. 

He had to swallow his wrath, but he went to the officer in 
command and painted our woeful condition in such strong colors 
that it had a beneficial effect, inasmuch as in an hour or two a 
large squad of men came, bringing arms full of hay, which they dis- 
tributed lavishly to the prisoners; then they brought rails and 
sticks of wood, which served as foundations for the beds. Though 
it rained hard all night, we managed to sleep through it comfort- 
ably. 

The faint beams of the sun striving to dispel the mists showed 
us the worst was now passed ; under his w^arm rays we dried our 
clothes and the blood w'as sent circulating through the erstwhile 
numbed limbs. 



202 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

In the afternoon we were formed in rank, and leaving our 
"wallow," though we carried away plenty of mud by way of me- 
mentos, we were marched up the river and bivouacked for the 
night in a grove of trees. It was not until late in the evening of 
the next day that we stepped on the wharf at Harrison's Landing 
prepared to take passage on the steamboat, en route for a most 
compulsory visit North. Marching single file across the gangway 
plank, then to the upper deck, we scattered in groups ; the whistle 
blew, the ropes were cast off, the paddles revolved slowly, and 
the boat sluggishly turning prow in the direction of Old Point, 
steamed swiftly down the river. 

Each man now received a blanket, also full rations, and as 
the shades of night fell on the scene, the songs of the Seven- 
teenth's Glee Club, or what was left of it, floated through the 
air, and they sang as men only can who have light hearts and full 
stomachs. 

Well ! soldiers are but children at best ; for them the past was 
gone, the future was hidden, the present only was theirs. 

The foe in our immediate front in this battle was the Sixteenth 
Massachusetts and Second New York, the latter capturing our 
battle-flag, on which was inscribed ''Williamsburg and Seven 
Pines," and the Seventeenth charged in their ignorance the First 
P>rigade of Hooker's division. General Grover, commanding, says 
in his official report : 

"About 3 o'clock P. M. the enemy moved upon General Mc- 
Call's lines in our front, and having broken them, came down in 
great force upon our position. The Sixteenth Massachusetts 
Volunteers being in position and on the immediate left of the road 
along which the advance was made, received and repulsed the 
heaviest and most persistent attempts of the enemy to break the 
lines. The Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, on the left 
of the Sixteenth, were not hard pressed, and had not an oppor- 
tunity to deliver its whole fire upon the enemy. 

"The Eleventh Massachusetts was thrown upon the extreme 
left of our division lines, in anticipation of an attempt to turn our 
flank. As no such attempt, however, was made in force, this regi- 
ment did not l>ecome engaged during the day. The First Massa- 
chusetts and Second New Hampshire occupied a line in rear of 
the Sixteenth Massachusetts and the Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania 
Volunteers, but the steadiness and determination with which the 
first line met the enemy, not only checking his advance, but 
causing him to withdraw from his position on the field, rendered 



SIGHTS AND SCENES IN PRISON 2O3 

any assistance at this time unnecessary from the second Hne."' 
(Reb. Records, Vol. ii, p. 123.) 

Colonel Kirk, of the Tenth Pennsylvania, also had a hand in our 
defeat. He says (Reb. Records, Vol. 10, p. 425) : "The enemy 
charged boldly upon the breastworks occupied by the Twelfth 
Pennsylvania, when I charged successfully upon their flanks, com- 
pletely routing the enemy, killing many and capturing about 60 
prisoners. The Seventeenth Virginia, by their extreme losses in 
killed, wounded and prisoners, were almost wholly annihilated." 

The official loss of the Seventeenth Virginia was 18 killed, 22, 
wounded and y;^ taken prisoners ; as in Seven Pines, the Seven- 
teenth lost more in killed than all the rest of the brigade put 
together. 

Now just read what our brigade commander says about this 
fight: 

"About 5 P. M. an order was received from General Long- 
street to advance by line. Advance continued to be conducted in 
good order until very soon, coming upon the pickets of the 
enemy, the men seemed to be possessed of the idea that they were 
upon the enemy's main line. The whole brigade charged forward 
in double-quick time and with loud cheers ; nothing could have 
been more chivalrously done and nothing could have been more 
unfortunate, as the cheering of the men only served to direct the 
tire of the enemy's batteries, and the movement in double-quick 
time through dense woods, over rough ground encumbered with 
matted undergrowth and crossed by a swamp, had the effect of 
producing more or less confusion and breaking the continuity of 
the line, which, however, was preserved as well as it possibly could 
have been under the circumstances. But a single idea seemed to 
control the minds of the men, which was to reach the enemy's 
line by the directest route and in the shortest time ; and no earthly 
power could have availed to arrest or restrain the impetuosity 
vvith which they rushed toward them, for my orders, previously 
given with great care and emphasis to assembled officers of the 
brigade, forbade any movement in double-quick time over such 
ground when the enemy Avere not in view. The obstructions were 
such as to make it impossible for any officer to see more than a 
few files of his men at one view, and it was apparent that an}' 
effort to halt and reform the entire brigade would be futile, and 
would only serve to produce increased confusion. But whatever 
the error of the men advancing too rapidly in disregard of pre- 



204 JOHNNY RUB AND BIIvI^Y YANK 

vioiis orders to the contrary, it was an error upon the side of 
bravery. 

"After advancing in this way probably i,ooo or 1,200 yards, 
crossing two bodies of woods and a small intermediate field, the 
lines suddenly emerged into another field, facing a battery of the 
enemy, consisting of not less than eight pieces, distant but a few 
hundred yards, while the enemy's infantry were found protected 
by an imperfect and hastily-constructed breastwork and a house 
near by. At the same time it became apparent that another bat- 
tery of the enemy was posted a considerable distance to our left. 
These two batteries and the enemy's infantry poured an incessant 
fire of shell, grape, canister and lead upon our line, and did much 
execution ; still there was no perceptible faltering in the advance 
of these brave men, who rushed across the open field, pouring a 
well-directed fire into the enemy, driving him from his breast- 
works and the battery in our front. The guns of the battery were 
abandoned to us for the time being, and my command was vir- 
tually in possession of the chosen position of the enemy. A more 
impetuous and desperate charge was never made than that of my 
small command against the sheltered and greatly superior forces 
of the enemy. The ground which they gained from the enemy is 
marked by the graves of some of my veterans who were buried 
where they fell ; and those graves marked with the names of the 
occupants, situated at and near the position of the enemy, show 
the points at which they dashed against the strongholds of the 
retreating foe." 

The idea of this brigade rushing blindly forward was prepos- 
terous. A mob might have done so — but this command was 
splendidly drilled, was commanded by educated officers, and the 
discipline was perfect, and when General Kemper writes that 
these veteran soldiers broke into a wild fool-rush over hill and 
dale, ignoring their oiTlicers' commands, and he too being present 
in person, he simply states a fact that military men cannot credit. 
Some officers lose their nerve, their brains refuse to act, their 
judgment becomes numbed in times of great peril. It is not a 
question of bravery — it is simply a matter of temperament. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

PRISON UFE AT FORT WARREN. 

The "Glorious Fourth" was clear and warm; no one ever saw 
a wet or cool Independence Day; it is always the sultriest, dirtiest 
day of the whole year. In old ante-bellum anniversaries it was 
a time full of loyal excitement ; a time of fire crackers and of 
noise ; a day of patriotic speeches wherein the American Eagle 
flapped his wings and crowed like a rooster, and the orator took 
drinks between whiles to cool his burning patriotism, and wiped 
the perspiration from his glowing brow. 

For ourselves we did not hail the dawn with many loyal 
thoughts whose eloquence might find no tongue ; nor did any of 
us try a speech or apostrophize the American flag, except Hartley, 
who stood on a stool and commenced : 

" 'When Freedom from her mountain height 
Unfurled her banner to the air 
She—' " 

a voice here interinipted — 

"She took a julep and got tight." 

I 

The orator was somewhat daunted by the irreverence of his 
audience and lost the cue of his peroration ; however, he began 
again : 

" 'The Glorious Eagle soared in pride 
Far up o'er reach of mountain peak — ' " 

"He caught old Freedom in his beak," suggested another. 

"She gave one piercing, yelling shriek," exclaimed a third, with 
violent gesticulations. 

"He picked her bones and so she died," pathetically put in a 
fourth — when 

"Say there, Johnny Reb," said one of the guards, "3^ou just shut 
up; if you don't, I'll make you!" 

"I always Hke to oblige a gentleman," responded Hartley, bow- 
ing politely; and so, bafifled at every point, the only poetical in- 
spiration of the occasion came to a sudden halt. 

About nine in the morning we arrived in sight of Fortress 



206 JOHNXY REB AND BILLY YANK 

]\Ionroe. The water shone beneath the sun Hke gold, and broke 
into diamond sparkles at his touch, while its burnished surface 
gently rose and fell with long, quiet, lazy swells that scarcely rip- 
pled the water. Hundreds of vessels, from the stately man-of- 
war down to the little fishing smacks, lay at anchor, every one 
of which was decorated with streamers, flags and bunting in honor 
of the day. 

Our steamer rounded the point swiftly, her prow seeming 
scarcely to cut the clear blue water. We passed the line-of-bat- 
tleship Cumberland, where it had been sunk by the Merri- 
iiuic not many months before, its lofty masts appearing above 
the water, a splendid monument of American valor, whose crew 
\^ent to the bottom sighting the guns. The monitor Bricsson, 
that gained a world-wide celebrity in her contest with the iron- 
clad, was anchored not far off, an object of great interest. We 
were disappointed in the half-sunken canal-boat-of-a-looking craft 
with a turret in the center, having had an idea that she was an 
immense structure. It was difficult to believe that this insignifi- 
cant little vessel before us had fought to a standstill the mighty 
Mcvrimac. 

The steamer was made fast to the wharf and the prisoners 
marched into the fort. To us it was a splendid pageantry, the 
waving flags, the mounted guns, the fine, showily dressed garrison, 
the officers in full uniform, the bands playing and the booming 
cannons firing salutes. 

Our squad was halted at the barracks, and for the first time in 
many days we had the eating of a good dinner, to which we did full 
justice. As we were about reforming, a Yankee lieutenant, who 
had been drinking heavily, came out with a canteen of whiskey. 

"Boys," said he, "I will give you a pull if you will drink success 
to the Union." 

A silence fell upon us ; we wanted a drink, but could we indulge 
in a toast whose sentiments were so repugnant to our feelings? 
And yet we were so thirsty ! so very thirsty ! not a drop of old 
rye had we touched for many a long day ; it smelled delightfully 
fragrant and it kept on smelling, and — and — 

Well, Esau was not such a wretch after all ! 

We blush to recall it ; as many as could grasp that tin cup took 
the liquor and repeated the toast. 

"Success to the Union." 

A doctor was called to see an Irishman whose native drink 
was whiskey. Water was prescribed as the only cure; Pat de- 



PRISON LIFE AT FORT WARREX 20/ 

murred, he said he never could drink it; then milk was sent for 
and Pat promised to get well on that; the doctor was soon sum- 
moned again. Near the bed where the sick man lay was a table 
on which rested a large bowl of milk strongly flavored with 
whiskey. 

"What have you there?" inquired the doctor. 

"Milk, Doctor, just what you ordered." 

"But there's whiskey in it, I smell it." 

"Well. Doctor." sighed the patient, "there may be whiskey in 
it, but milk's my object." 

A parallel case was ours — Union was in the drink, but whiskey 
was our object. Some of our officers began to jibe and taunt us. 
but they were soon silenced with the reminder that they had been 
sleeping in a corn-house while we had paddled in a puddle. 

The warning of the steam whistle hurried us to the wharf, and 
instead of our steamboat, there was a large steamship, called the 
Ocean Queen, which was to carry us to New York. Just as 
the sun went down the steamer started, and soon the last glimpse 
of Old Virginia faded from our view. The steamship carried no 
passengers except "dead-heads;" for with the exception of the 
crew, prisoners and guards, there were none others on board. 
Our quarters were good, yet men will rarely ever consent to let 
well enough alone, for within six hours of the time of starting a 
plot had been started by one of the officers. Lieutenant Slaughter, 
of Company K, to overpower the guard, seize the steamer, turn 
her prow toward Virginia, then beach the vessel on shore and 
make our way to Richmond. 

It would have been a comparatively easy task, fraught with 
but little danger. The guards were not many, and scattered all 
about the boat, each one generally surrounded by a group of 
prisoners conversing on the theme of war or kindred subjects. 
Really no attempt had been made to show us that we were under 
surveillance, for each man could roam at will all over the vessel, 
even climb the shrouds and up the main mast if he chose. The 
prisoners numbered some seventy-five or eighty; the guards 
all told were sixteen, under charge of one officer. 

The privates, with three exceptions, anxious for an)- excite- 
ment, eagerly joined the conspiracy and faithfully promised to 
obey all orders and run all risks ; and they would have done it. 
The plan only needed the sanction of our colonel to be put in 
instant execution. 



208 JOHNNY R1;E AND BILI.Y YANK 

The plot was laid before Colonel Marye, who after careful con- 
sideration vetoed the whole scheme for the following reasons : 

*'In the first place." he said, "there is no engineer or pilot on 
board who can take charge of the boat in case the present crew shall 
refuse to serve. Then the supply of coal is limited, while the 
gravest obstacle lays in the fact that it will be impossible to get 
be5-ond Fortress Monroe, either to go up the James or the Potomac. 
The steamer will be required by the gunboats to show her papers, 
and success will be almost impossible. 

"It is true," he continued, "that the prisoners can probably 
escape by going to New York and overpowering the guard as the 
boat steams up the harbor; but then no one has any money, and 
the risk will be too great. Besides," the Colonel reasoned, 
"we will soon be exchanged, and so what will be the use of taking 
all this trouble, incurring all this risk, without a particle of neces- 
sity for such a step. W'e will get back home very soon in the nat- 
ural course of events." In concluding he added : "If I were not 
very sure in my own mind that we would be exchanged without 
delay, I would head the movement myself." 

These words, so full of sound sense, put the matter in a new 
light. Some reckless, hotheaded fellows wanted to go ahead not- 
withstanding; but the men held back, having confidence in 
Colonel Marye, well knowing how fearless and gallant he was. 

Just here Billy Harmon, of Company A, one of the most popular 
soldiers in the regiment, came forward with a new plan : 

"Why can't we take the steamer to the North Carolina coast 
and beach her? Then we can make our way to our lines without 
any trouble." 

A majority of the men agreed to this, and started for the door, 
with Billy at their head. 

Up sprang Colonel Alarye and commenced talking at the rate 
of one hundred and fifty words a minute, and at last persuaded 
them to have a ballot taken. A poll was then taken and it was 
found that a majority of one was in favor of standing by their head 
officer, and so the matter ended; but it was as Hartley expressed 
it: 

"A d d close shave." 

A view of the sun rising from old Ocean was a spectacle that 
many of the squad had never before witnessed, and great was the 
wonder thereat. We were on the Atlantic, with not the slightest 
trace of land. A school of porpoises sported around the vessel and 
introduced themselves to landsmen, but Mother Carey's chickens 




C^:t 




^^" 




PRISON life; at fort warren 209 

were objects of greater interest ; indeed, everything we saw served 
to amuse and fill the hours with a pleasant excitement. 

The breeze began to freshen up a little, for Neptune had no idea 
of letting us go by without giving him the customary tribute. 
Every prisoner had eaten a hearty breakfast, but two-thirds of 
these Rebels had no appetite for dinner. Their cheeks began to 
turn white, their noses cold, and then one by one they would dis- 
appear. A roar of laughter followed each receding figure as a 
slight token of sympathy. They were all to be seen in the even- 
ing, however, lying around the deck or in the saloon in a state of 
hopeless woe. The guards were in as bad a plight as the pris- 
oners, there being scarcely two of them out of the whole number 
who could hold their heads up. 

Some of the healthy ones played cruel jokes on their languish- 
ing sea-sick comrades thus wise : they took a piece of rancid pork 
and tied it to the end of a string attached to a pole. Much as if 
intent on a fishing expedition, the angler would steal up to his vic- 
tim — some limp, almost lifeless form — and suspend the rank, 
strong-smelling meat right under his nose. A shudder of disgust 
would thrill the sufferer, his eyes would unclose, and the whole 
inner man, revolting against the procedure, would yield to fresh 
spasms of misery that knew no stint nor mercy. 

It was mean, it was heathenish, but we thought it irresistibly 
funny; at least it served to illustrate the saying of Rochefoucauld, 
that "the greatest enjoyment a man can feel is in witnessing the 
suffering of others." 

In the evening, when the stars had jeweled the sky, those few 
of the Seventeenth who were well enough assembled on deck and 
passed hours in singing strains, now martial and now sentimental. 
That chorus of well-trained voices sounding on the steamer's 
deck and floating away over the wide expanse of water, with no 
roof above it but the dome of heaven, seemed to us the sweetest 
music that ever fell on our listening ears. We could not break 
the charm by so much as a word, and hence were silent as the 
holy calm around us, while song after song rose and died away 
upon the air. 

The morning of the second day the boat passed Sandy Hook 
and made her way up the harbor amid a forest of shipping, steer- 
ing her path toward Governor's Island. The steamship stopped 
at the wharf and the prisoners were marched ashore, where the 
garrison under arms received us. We were the first Rebel pris- 
14 



210 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

oners to land there, and such was our appearance that it failed to 
make a favorable impression on our Northern friends. In truth, 
we were a cross between a scare-crow and a chimney-sweep. 

After standing several hours in the sun, going through roll call 
and arranging preliminaries until our patience was threadbare, 
we were marched by the demi-castle which stands on the edge of 
the island, to a large row of tents that were pitched alongside of 
the beach. Rations were then distributed, consisting of crackers, 
coffee, rice, meat and potatoes ; better indeed than we had ever 
received at home. Then the dead-line having been marked and a 
guard stationed, we were left to our own devices. 

That evening we enjoyed a surf bath, and for the first time had 
a chance to wash of¥ the Chickahominy mud, that had stuck to us 
through all adventures and travel "closer than a brother." We 
were sadly in need of underclothing; not one of us having had 
a change for nearly three weeks. Those we wore were grimy 
and black, but we washed them that evening after a fashion, and 
at night some fifty men could have been seen hovering over the 
camp-fire, their backs shining in the glare, while each pair of 
hands held up before the blaze the wet. streaming articles of wear- 
ing apparel. 

Lights were out at nine, and then followed the first perfectly 
restful slumber that had visited us since the twenty-fourth of the 
past month. 

Our stay at Governor's Island only lasted two or three days, 
during which we were in a high state of enjoyment ; with as much 
rest, exercise, bathing and good rations as were consistent with 
our position. The only thing of which we had reason to complain 
was the brutality of our guards, militia of course. Veteran soldiers 
never illtreated their prisoners, such was the experience on both 
sides. It was only those "dressed in a little brief authority," only 
those whose sole acquaintance with war was gathered from the 
daily papers, who carried on the only warfare they knew anything 
about and at the same time gratified their malice by insulting de- 
fenseless men under their charge. You see it was so safe ! Some 
men of the Seventeenth were knocked down by musket stocks in 
these valiant hands. 

On the evening of the ninth of July our squad, composed of 
the Seventeenth Virginia, was started again on the tramp. A 
small steam tug carried us over to New York, from whence we 
were transferred to the deck of one of the superb steamers that 
ply between the Empire City and Fall River, Massachusetts. 



PRISON LIFE AT FORT WARREN 211 

"\Miere the mischief are you going to carry us?" asked one of 
our captains of the officer of the guard. "Turn us loose in Can- 
ada, or send us to some watering-place to improve our health?" 

"You fellows ought to be very glad that you are going where 
you are," he answered, "instead of being sent to Fort Delaware. 
I have orders to carry you all to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor, 
and a fine place it is." 

■'Do you think we will be well treated there?" one of us asked. 

"Yes, for there are no prisoners except political ones." 

The steamer was filled with a gay company going to Saratoga, 
Canada and Niagara Falls. 

"Not much secesh in them," remarked one of the guards to us 
confidentially; "see how spiteful they look." 

So they did. Their pretty noses went up and their red lips curled 
disdainfully as they passed our ranks on the way to the saloon. 
At this point one of the fair ones dropped her handkerchief and 
I, who loved the sex to a weakness, was only too willing to pick 
up the dainty article and restore it to the owner, which I did with 
a sweeping. Sir Charles Grandison bow. The gentle dame re- 
ceived the handkerchief, but a fixed, stony stare rewarded the 
bow, and chilled it to the bone, while her escort, a little, slim- 
waisted, dainty-looking fellow, perfumed and yellow-kidded, 
scowled like the humpedback Richard when he ordered the 
princely Buckingham off to execution. 

We had left the island in such a hurry that the commissary 
either forgot or neglected to issue the rations ; at any rate, we 
did not receive them ; and after the steamer had gotten under 
way we awoke to the fact that we were ravenously hungry. It 
happened that we were placed in an upper saloon with steps 
leading down in the front and rear, or rather in the bow and stern. 
In the center of the saloon was an open oval space some twenty 
feet long, around which ran a railing, and which, being directly 
over the dining-room, commanded a most complete view of all 
that passed therein. An appetizing odor, the clattering of knives 
and forks, brought us to our feet, and looking down all sleep was 
banished from our famished eyes while the pangs of hunger be- 
came intolerable. We reminded ourselves of poor Dives looking 
up from his place of torment "upon Lazarus, who was being com- 
forted." 

It was a long, luxuriously furnished apartment; in the center 
the long table was laid with snowy damask, gHttering with cut 
glass and plate, and decorated with brilliant-hued flowers. 



212 JOHNNY REB AND BILI^Y YANK 

Why attempt to particularize the viands, the fish, the fruits and 
all the dainties which passed before our eyes like the distempered 
visions of a dream. Bowls of crimson strawberries, piles of lus- 
cious raspberries, whose rich coloring grew more intense con- 
trasted with the powdered sugar, the rich cream and sparkling, 
crystal ice; Malaga grapes, whose looks suggested a cool touch 
to the parched tongue; jellies, ices, cakes, salmon, mutton, ham, 
fried chicken, deviled crabs, salads, vegetables, a hundred dishes, 
it seemed, we did not know, but whose combined odor filled our 
souls with longing unspeakable. 

We heard the popping of champagne corks ; we recognized the 
long, slender bottles of Chambertin, the St. Julien, the Medoc, 
while the steaming cofi^ee rose as incense ; we watched each 
mouthful that passed between blessed lips ; we grudged every dish 
— nay, we could have fought over every cooling drop. 

It was a sight to awaken appetite in the satiated epicure, to 
make the eyes of the bon-vivant brighten ; then imagine what 
pangs it caused the rationless, empty crowd above, whose eyes 
were burning down upon it yet whose clutching hands were all 
impotent to grasp a single glass or touch a single dish. Poor 
Johnnies ! we sat there for two mortal hours, our jaws working 
spasmodically as we fathomed the very depth of a punishment 
''^vhich only Dante could have conceived for the souls of his "In- 
ferno." 

The scene had its fascinations though, and chained us to the 
spot. There were beautiful women whose eyes outshone the dia- 
monds which sparkled on their hands. Sitting near the center 
of the table was (so a negro waiter informed us) a bridal couple, 
whom we watched ; the groom, an old fellow with the love-light 
in his ancient eyes, and well gotten up, she fair as a lily and young 
enough to be his grandchild. The same old story, so many 
charms for so much money in Vanity Fair! You need not shrink, ■ 
my lady, from those obtrusive attentions, you were fairly bought! 
Bargain and sale ! 

Another bridal couple not far of¥, going to Niagara, where all 
the newly married go ; both were young, both bashful, both 
radiantly happy; indeed they were too ecstatic to eat. He, how- 
ever, poured wine glass after wine glass of champagne down his 
throat, but love and champagne go together. 

There sat a wounded officer with his arm in a sling; nobody 
seemed to take much notice of him ; indeed, one of the ser- 
vants cut up his food and attended him. "Ah, old fellow," we 



PRISON LIFE AT FORT WARREN 2I3 

thought, "if you only wore the gray and were in the South, every 
woman at that table would deem it an honor to wait upon you." 

At the head of the board was a general, of what especial rank 
and name we could not learn. He was exclusive, and it showed 
how great people gravitate toward each other, when the portly 
butler stood by him and paid him the most distinguished con- 
sideration. 

The butler — we must not pass him over, for though last, he 
was by no means least — was a venerable gentleman of color, so 
stuffed and bloated by rich living and good liquor and a sense of 
his own importance he could only waddle slowly across the floor. 
He never condescended to do any service except to pour out a 
glass of wine for some individual as high in the world as himself. 
He was evidently what we would call down South "an aristo- 
cratic nigger." Attending in full dress, broadcloth and white 
vest, his big hands encased in white gloves, with marvelous studs 
and massive gold chain hanging from his neck, he felt as great 
as mighty Caesar. With a lofty wave of the hand he signalized 
his pleasure to a sable servitor, who flew to do his bidding. In- 
deed, surrounded by his crowd of satellites, he was a very sun of 
a system, and the air with which he gave them brief directions 
proved him to be a Prince of Deportment. 

But even watching these different types of humanity failed to 
stifle the gnawing pangs of hunger which were growing every 
moment more intense ; so several of us held a council of war and 
resolved to get something to eat by hook or crook. We counted 
funds ; all told they amounted to twenty-six dollars, a goodly 
sum enough, but woe the day — it was Confederate money, worth 
just about as much here as the old Continental. One of the Rebels, 
tall, gaunt Jack Ballenger, took the money, determined to try 
anyhow, and slipped down two flights of steps to the dining- 
room ; there, calling a waiter, he offered him the amount if he 
would manage to provide a supper for six. He seemed unde- 
cided ; said he would go and see. Approaching the old fat, 
bloated butler, he asked his consent, but that mass of flesh hated 
a Rebel with every pound of his swelled carcass, and gave the 
waiter such overwhelming, withering rebuke that he slunk away 
and never came near us again. 

However, one or two hands on the boat took compassion on 
us and brought us a dish of cold tripe and bread. Ah, that tripe! 
it hung as heavy on our souls as Meg Merrilies's curse. It was 
true Union tripe, and refused to give any aid or comfort to the 



214 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvI.Y YANK 

enemy whatsoever; instead, many pains and many qualms. It is 
probable that not a man in that lot has ever eaten tripe since. 

Early in the morning the steamer reached Fall River, where, 
leaving the boat, we were marched to the depot and took the 
train, a whole car having been allotted to us alone. Had we 
wished to escape, the guards allowed every opportunity. We 
were at liberty to stand on the platform of the cars by obtaining 
permission of the ofificer of the day, who was disposed to be very 
friendly toward us. Passing through a long tunnel, where the 
train went very slowly, it was debated among a few of us whether 
or not it were better to slip off; but we thought that in our gray 
uniforms and without a cent in our pockets and in the midst of 
bitter enemies it would be only avoiding Charybdis to fall into 
Scylla, and so the idea was dismissed. 

Boston and its suburbs, with its villas, stylish country seats and 
neat farm houses, was a revelation to our Southern eyes. The 
houses and grounds seemed spick, span and new, so different 
from the let-things-go-and-take-it-easy style to which we had 
been accustomed. 

To be sure there was nothing of age to be met with anywhere, 
not even as much as of the hundred years to which as a new coun- 
try we are entitled; but on the other hand there were no hang- 
ing gates, no tumble-down porches ; no veteran pumps ; nothing 
but what showed promptness of repair and energy, opposed to our 
put-off, lazy plantation principle. The Southerner takes pride in 
his old house and will keep it intact as in the days of his grand- 
father or great-grandfather; the same old portraits hanging on 
the wall, the same old furniture ; he may add wings to the build- 
ing and a porch here and there, but the old parental roof remains 
like a hen with her brood around her. The spirit of decay is 
not kept down on his grounds and rolling acres. He is in no 
hurry to improve things ; he will tie and prop up where a nail 
should go ; paint he does not hanker after ; his very equipage is 
often wheezy, and so a flavor of age tinges his home as it does the 
hair on his head and his wine. 

"What was good enough for my father before me is good 
enough for me" becomes a maxim on his lips to be handed down 
to his son after him. 

The Northern spirit is essentially progressive, if not reverential. 
When the patrimonial mansion descends to a younger generation 
and increasing coffers are the reward of thrift he says, "I 
will pull down my house and my barns and build greater;" 



PRISON UFE AT FORT WARREN 215 

and on the site of the old foundation-stones arises a structure 
whose elegance and comfort is only limited by the length of purse. 
Where money is no consideration, palatial residences are built 
fit for the nobles of the old world. Everything is modern, the 
more modern the better. His carriages are all glaze and shine, 
his furniture changes with the fashion, his grounds are laid out 
with mathematical exactness, the very trees are grown to shape, 
the hedges are cut according to pattern, the lawns are sown and 
rolled to velvet precision, and Nature is made to step back and 
yield to the aesthetic as it may be apprehended at the time. The 
Northern characteristic, however, .is essentially that of cleanliness; 
he is obtrusively neat ; he hates dust and dirt more than anything 
else, snakes and sin not excepted ; in soap and scrubbing is his 
national faith. If he had his mother-in-law cremated and the 
sacred dust were by accident to escape from the precious urn, a 
servant with soap and mop would wipe her up. 

Early in the forenoon we left the cars and found ourselves in 
the spacious depot in the ultra-Union city of Boston, the first 
Rebels that ever pressed with sacrilegious feet its loyal streets; 
the first Rebels who walked under the shadow of Faneuil Hall. 
No ! now that we think of it, a large gang of them passed its doors 
about a hundred years or so ago on their way to burn some Brit- 
ish tea that a loyal tax had been placed upon. It was rebellion, 
of course, but all New England gloried in the name Rebel then. 

Boston, that city of furores, the Athens of America, the Hub 
of the Universe, the city of many titles, rarely enjoyed in those 
war-times a greater sensation than was caused by the appearance 
of a hundred live, genuine Rebels, captured on the battle-fields. 
The great sea serpent, taken off the coast; the walking giant, 
nay, even a grand circus parade of wild animals, with a hippopot- 
amus and a giraffe heading up the thoroughfare, would not have 
collected a larger crowd in a shorter time. Had Bunker Hill 
Monument stepped down from its stately perch and walked away 
on feet, decorously wrapped in the American flag, bowing right 
and left to the multitude, they could hardly have excited more 
curiosity than did that line of simple gray-jackets. 

A mob followed us up the street, a good-natured mob though, 
that only used its eyes. After having passed a square or two, the 
crowd became so dense, the pressure upon us so great that fur- 
ther progress became impossible. The guards could not keep off 
the throng that hemmed them in ; so we were halted while a 
heavy detachment of police formed an outer cordon and another 



2l6 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

squad in front opened the way; then we slowly made our pro- 
gress through the streets. The pavements, the balconies, the 
very housetops were filled with an inquisitive, gazing multitude, 
while the little street Arabs swung like monkeys from the trees. 
Shops were suddenly emptied of clerks and purchasers ; windows 
sprung open, shutters flew wide, heads were thrust out and eyes 
stared us in the face whichever way we looked. The newsboys 
neglected to call their papers; the hackman pulled up on one side 
of the street, forgetting for a moment to lash his bony, lean 
horses; carriages came to a sudden halt; in fact, all business was 
as effectually suspended as on that day when Jack Cade rode 
through London, announcing the arrival of the Millenium, order- 
ing all work to cease and promising that quartern bread should 
be half penny a loaf, and that conduits should run wine. Old 
men peered at us through spectacles ; women stopped to watch 
us ; boys gazed ; and the children, bless their innocent hearts ! 
there is no knowing what tales those infant Bostonians had heard 
about the Rebels that brought that look of fright into their young- 
eyes. It was the same expression with which they gaze upon the 
man-eating lion in the menagerie, and they clung to their 
mothers and nurses as if they had been brought face to face with 
just so many monsters. 

What the citizens thought of us we had no means of finding 
out; yet it must have been rather a disappointment. Each one 
of us, to accord with the popular idea, should have been at least 
seven feet high, with a villainous countenance overshadowed by 
a wide-brimmed hat. We should have had a shock of unkempt, 
flowing hair, and a beard like that of the giant in the fairy tale, 
who w^ore seven-leagued boots and ate a child at every meal. 
Bowie-knives should have been our chief personal adornment, 
and scowling our pastime. 

As it was we w^ere rather too commonplace, though our pro- 
cession was quite imposing. First the police at our head ; next 
followed our officers, with our colonel leading, and a handsomer, 
more distinguished-looking man to serve for our frontispiece 
would have been hard to find North or South. Last came the 
privates strung out in twos, with the guards on each side, the 
police escorting. Altogether the train stretched out for fully a 
whole square. 

A more reckless, dare-devil set of boys, for nearly all those 
privates were no more than boys, were never before brought to- 
gether by the fortunes of war. It may be safely surmised that 



PRISON UFE AT FORT WARREN 21/ 

they kept no decorous silence as befitted ''les miserables"" on the 
way to prison. They scattered greetings right and left, they 
bowed to every pretty girl, they complimented every handsome 
woman in the same manner. So we went, making slow but steady 
progress. Not one -rudeness nor insult was offered us during the 
whole route, which spoke well for the charity, the refinement and 
good taste of the Bostonians. 

Many onlookers tried to get inside the line to talk, but were 
repulsed by the police, the soldiers not caring one way or the 
other. Only the newspaper men joined our ranks — they can get 
anywhere. As they talked with us they asked question after 
question, and it must be feared the papers next morning recorded 
strangely contradictory stories and some right hard tales, that 
required much faith for digesting, inasmuch as none of the pri- 
vates so interviewed had any serious fears of the fate of Ananias, 
or rather they were not disposed to talk as if they had, and 
though from the same State as the youthful Washington, living 
almost under the shadow of his tomb — well, they would not have 
compromised that good little hatchet as he did. 

It was an hour before we reached the wharf where a steam tug 
lay in waiting. Going aboard and bidding our police escort a 
polite farewell, the little boat picked her way down the river, 
reaching Fort Warren, at the mouth of the Bay, after a pleasant 
ride. 

This fortification was an elaborate and massive work, com- 
manding all of the approaches to the city. From the upper tiers 
of guns a plunging fire of forty-five degrees could have sunk any 
vessel, iron-clad or otherwise. Fort Warren, well garrisoned, 
was to our eyes simply impregnable. 

After we landed a guard took us in charge, our former 
sentinels returning in the boat. We were led within the par- 
ade grounds, where we remained until arrangements were made 
for our comfort. We were soon surrounded by the political pris- 
oners, who were of influence and had been incarcerated for their 
outspoken Southern sentiments or for some acts considered by 
the authorities as disloyal, but whether justly or unjustly so, 
remained to be proven. There were also some of our officers 
high in rank. Generals Buckner and Tilghman, captured at Fort 
Donaldson; Commodore Barron, of the Confederate Navy; Mar- 
shall Kane, and Doctor Magill, of Maryland, and some other citi- 
zens of less note. There were none of the rank and file other 



2l8 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

than ourselves, and we blessed our stars that we had fallen into 
such a soft place. 

The political prisoners had a splendid dinner ready for us, such 
a dinner as the Confederacy in all its length and breadth could 
not have given us ; a dinner that we had dreamed of in our days 
of short rations. It is needless to say that our onslaught was 
a heavy one ; indeed the amount of food that we consumed and 
the bottles of wine which we emptied in that one meal would 
seem incredible to any one not informed as to the expansive power 
of the Rebel soldier's digestive apparatus. The donors watched 
our efforts with the keenest delight. 

After a good smoke the prisoners were assigned their quar- 
ters, consisting of two long casemated apartments, one for sleep- 
ing, the other the mess-room. In the former, bunks were built 
one above the other like berths in a ship. A blanket per man 
was issued, while the political prisoners presented each of us with 
'a suit of underclothing. No rations were given, but instead the 
store-room was open, to the contents of which the messes could 
help themselves as it might please them. Certainly no prisoners 
of war had ever been treated so luxuriously before, nor were they 
ever afterwards. Breakfast consisted of coffee, — real, not ground 
rye or corn, — fresh loaf bread, mess-beef, hominy, broiled ham and 
eggs ad libitum. Dinner was proportionately good. The mess- 
room was a large vaulted apartment, cool even in the hottest part 
of the day, the casements allowing a refreshing ocean breeze to 
pass through. A large cooking-stove was at one end, around 
which were hanging all the necessary utensils, and on one side 
was the temporary store-room with barrels of hard bread, flour, 
mess-pork, beef and groceries of various kinds. 

Later in the day a few of us visited the Maryland prisoners. 
Their quarters were luxuriously fitted up with Brussels carpets 
on the floors, mahogany furniture and a fine library ; at the same 
time they had their own servants in attendance. The officers and 
citizens, with one exception, were not prisoners except in name, 
inasmuch as they had no guard placed over them. They had the 
freedom of the Fort and were on terms of cordial intimacy with 
the family of the commandant. With such a pleasant mess, theirs 
must have been a regular club-house life, very enjoyable to look 
back upon in after years. 

The authorities in Washington evidently entertained against 
our officer in rank, General Buckner, some bitter feeling, for by 
the explicit and positive orders of Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War,. 



PRISON LIFE AT FORT WARREN 2ig 

he was kept in close and solitary confinement, the parole ex- 
tended to all of his comrades in arms having been denied him, 
with the exception of a short walk every evening which he took 
for exercise between two armed sentries. 

The commander of the fort was not responsible for this, for a 
kinder and truer gentleman, a more gallant or chivalrous officer 
never lived than Colonel Dimmock. He was an old army officer 
and had commanded at Old Point several years before, when that 
place was a fashionable pleasure resort. Some of us having met 
him in those happier days, found no difficulty in recalling the 
erect, soldierly figure, the benevolent-looking face and the kindly 
voice. In that large heart of his no bitterness, no malice, no sec- 
tional hate could find an abiding place. There was not a prisoner 
under his charge who did not learn to respect and love him before 
a week had rolled over their heads. While doing his duty as a 
soldier he did not sacrifice his humamty as a man. 

It was the brave Archduke Charles who once said : "The flat- 
tery of friends I think nothing of ; but the praise of the foe I 
value indeed." 

Most of the first day our men spent in writing home to relations 
and friends who lived within the Union lines. In their letters 
they were confined to business and family affairs, all political and 
war themes having been strictly forbidden. These communica- 
tions were read by the garrison officers, and if there were found 
in them the slightest allusion to those subjects, the effusion was 
destroyed or handed back to the writer with an admonition to be 
more careful in the future. 

A good many men were taken sick a day or two after reaching 
the Fort ; several nearly shuffied ofif their mortal coil. Too much 
indulgence in rich food was the cause of it, though there were 
some who traced the primary cause back to "that tripe" eaten 
on the Fall River boat. Nothing but skill and unremitting 
watchfulness of one of the political prisoners. Doctor Magill, of 
Hagerstown, saved the lives of those who were so very ill that it 
was but a touch-and-go with them. 

What a noble specimen of humanity that man was! Of Her- 
culean stature, outspoken and fearless as a lion, yet with a heart 
and touch for the sick as gentle as he was brave. Generally 
speaking a private's life was considered by the outside world as 
comparatively nothing ; only valued as so much finger power to 
pull a trigger or as good for powder. This good man sat up with 
these gray-jackets through the long hours of the night, watched 



220 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK 

the flickering pulse and nursed the wavering powers with just the 
same fidehty and untiring devotion as if those poor soldiers had 
more than thanks with which to repay him. 

A few days after our arrival innumerable baskets, barrels, boxes, 
and packages of all sizes came pouring in for the prisoners, filled 
with clothes of all kinds, books, luxuries, indeed everything that 
could be worn or eaten by man. Most of the freight was from 
Alexandria, Virginia, where the majority of the Seventeenth had 
lived, though Baltimore, New York and even Boston added a 
quota. We were overwhelmed with presents and were made the 
recipients of clothes sufficient to supply a brigade. All the fine 
citizen suits and underclothing left by the volunteers when they 
made their hasty exit from Alexandria were boxed up and for- 
warded promptly to Fort Warren. Several Dutchmen who had 
been taken prisoners found themselves apparelled in broadcloth 
and fine linen such as they had never worn before. In fact there 
was so much the men could not use that they gave the garrison 
guards a good deal of clothing. 

Not only clothes, but money was sent ; and some of us found 
our pockets full for the first time in many a long day. 

The better class of prisoners who had funds formed a mess, 
and as there was a sutler at the Fort we lived like fighting-cocks. 

The consequence was soon seen, as thin faces commenced to 
round out, stout figures began to change into fat ones ; and in 
three weeks the difference between the hungry, gaunt crowd 
which made its way over the drawbridge and the well-dressed, 
lazy men sauntering about the fort was as marked as that be- 
tween Pharaoh's seven lean kine and his "well-favored and fat- 
fleshed cattle that fed in a meadow." 

We find tares in all wheat; nothing is quite perfect in this 
world, and so in the Union-loving, Hail Columbia, super-loj^al 
city of Boston there were actually Rebel sympathizers. They came 
on the steamer to visit us, but as such a procedure would have 
been contrary to military discipline, which permitted no visitors 
to enter the Fort, their kind wishes took a more practical form 
in presenting each prisoner with a handsome gray uniform. 

Those were halcyon days, those days of July, 1862; light spots 
in a generally dark life. Our soldier prisoners, so inured to hard- 
ship, want and suffering, had now not a care on their minds, not 
a trouble in their hearts ; they drew in long breaths of content 
and could only sigh sometimes at the thought of the dark future 
which was doomed to hold so marked a contrast to that perfect 



PRISON LIFE AT FORT WARREN 221 

rest and satisfaction. It was too good to last long, that life of 
ours. - 

Roll call in the morning at seven ; breakfast at eight ; cards, 
chess, conversation or reading until dinner, just as fancy Hsted; 
dinner at three; coffee and cigars at four; then came the post- 
prandial nap ; at six an hour's stroll around the ramparts "en 
parole," or if preferred a bath in the briny deep; supper at eight; 
music until ten, then "taps." Such had been the order of our 
lives for three weeks, when the command was given to prepare 
to leave the next morning for Virginia. 

Well, of course we were glad to go, and yet sorry. Two dry 
crackers a day, washed down with parched-corn coffee, did not 
present quite an enlivening prospect ; then, too, everybody seemed 
to regret our departure. Our citizen-prisoners would miss us 
dreadfully, for we stirred up the monotony of their quiet lives. 
The garrison guards would feel our absence, for many were the 
flasks of whiskey we had given them, and clothes; the sutler 
who absorbed our money would gaze wistfully after our receding 
pockets, "all that was left of them," while the Dutch girls em- 
ployed by the garrison to do our washing and mending would 
cry their blue eyes out we feared ; they came to see us once more, 
poor Gretchens, and told us, in broken English, they would think 
of us when we were across the rivers in that "strange, dreadful 
country of Virginia." We swore that just as soon as the cruel 
war was over we would "return and marry every one of them, — 
make them mistresses of a hundred slaves to do their bidding," 
and so they smiled through their tears. 

Then the idea arose to celebrate the last night by giving those 
girls a dance. Colonel Dimmock's consent was good humoredly 
accorded, with the proviso that the frolic should end at twelve. The 
mess-room was selected for the scene of action. Word was sent 
to the Dutch maidens to come at eight exactly. The men were 
placed upon various committees ; some to see the sutler and ar- 
range about the supper, others to take down the stove and clear 
up the room, while others attended to the music. All worked 
with a will and promptly at the minute the fun began. 

It was the famous "Lannigan's ball" over again. 

At ten, supper was served, and in half an hour the dancing was 
resumed and kept up with a vim. Whiskey flowed like water, and 
the Dutch and English language became so entwined thereby 
that it was an impossibility to distinguish one from the other; 
every one talked enough and to spare, but no one understood 



222 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK 

any one else. As the fated hour approached the revelry was at its 
height; the fiddlers played as only drunken fiddlers can, the 
dancers shouted and swung each other, the onlookers in excited 
tones urging them to renewed vigor, while the uproar made the 
rafters of the vaulted chamber fairly ring again. 

Then the drum beat; "Lights out!" shouted the guard. The 
Cinderellas of the evening had touched the magic hour, the 
Prince's ball was over, not a moment's delay. Sad, tearful and 
hurried partings and protestations were sworn to in English and 
whispered in Dutch, when presto ! more quickly than the change 
of scene in a pantomime the hall so brilliant in lights, so animated 
with moving figures, so. resonant with music and joyous voices, 
was still, dark and empty ; the banquet-hall deserted. 

Next day came the leave-takings. The "Quartette Club" ser- 
enaded by sunlight Colonel Dimmock and his family in that 
sweet farewell song of Schiller's; and afterwards every man of 
the Rebel line went up to the Colonel, and out of a full heart and 
with dewy eyes thanked him for his undeviating kindness and 
generous consideration. He was touched by this sense of gratitude 
and showed that he felt it. His sleep that night was none the less 
sweet, doubtless, that so many Southern hearts held him in kind- 
liest remembrance, and had never the memory of one harsh act 
to bring against him in this world or the next. 

Soon the farewell words were spoken and we went aboard the 
Osceola, a fine ocean steamship. The last we saw of the Fort, 
the daughters of Dutchland, like so many black-eyed Susans, were 
still standing on the ramparts waving their handkerchiefs. Grad- 
ually their figures faded away in the distance and became invisible ; 
and as the powerful strokes of the engine sent the boat surging 
ahead through the blue waters. Fort Warren looked hke a speck 
in the horizon and then faded utterly away. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

BACK IN OIvD VIRGINIA. 

The voyage to Virginia was pleasant but uneventful. After ar- 
riving at Old Point the prisoners were transferred to a steamboat, 
which carried its human freight to Aiken's Landing on the James. 
This place we reached in the early morning; then the steamer 
anchored in the middle of the river, where it swung in the current 
all day. 

It was emphatically a hot morning, hotter noon and hottest 
evening, with not a breath of air stirring through the long hours. 
The sultriness inside the boat became almost insupportable, while 
the memory of the cool casemates of Fort Warren and the re- 
freshing breezes of old Ocean were quite too recent to permit the 
change to salamander heat to be other than absolute suffering. 
So it happened that several of the guard who had come from the 
cool ramparts of Fort Warren were utterly prostrated and would 
have died but for the energetic efforts of a surgeon who chanced 
to be aboard. 

Three other steamboats were anchored near us, crammed to 
excess with prisoners from Fort Delaware. If the torrid night 
was made bearable to us who were comparativel}^ few in num- 
bers, and who could lie on deck and go to sleep counting the 
stars, what must it have been to them — packed in the saloons, 
upper and lower decks like sardines in a box, with only room to 
lie in rows? 

Yet another blazing day was passed on board while the Com- 
missioners of Exchange were arranging tedious details. Several 
more of our guards became ill, and we nursed them carefully and 
tendered all the comfort and attention it was in our power to 
bestow. So, good actions are not lost in this world ; the bread 
cast upon the waters returns. The kindness they had meted out 
to us was not wanting when nothing but the careful attendance 
of Rebel soldiers and the prescriptions of a Rebel surgeon saved 
their lives. Like us, they were very grateful. 

As the day advanced and the glowing sun rose higher in the 
unsullied blue arch, the impatience and anxiety of the men were 
intensified. It looked so cool under the shadow of the trees 
which lined the river banks ; the grass was so inviting in its vel- 



224 JOHNNY REB AND BIL,I^Y YANK 

vety greenness that our officers had to assert all their authority 
to prevent the prisoners from jumping overboard and swimming 
ashore. 

On board the other steamers the suffering had become terrible. 
The men were standing huddled together in a close, contracted 
space, like chickens in a coop, gasping for breath ; and to make it 
worse, the water had given out entirely, the men drinking the 
almost hot river water, which so far from alleviating, only intensi- 
fied their thirst. 

Night had come and yet the tantalization was kept up. The 
men were beginning to swear rather roundly that under any cir- 
cumstances they would go ashore the next day. That the guards 
might have something to say on that subject never entered into 
their calculations, for these worthies had never so much as tried 
to keep us together, but sat on the deck in the lightest possible 
costumes, their clothes thrown one way and their arms and ac- 
coutrements another. 

"If this is a specimen of a Virginia summer," they said, "we 
have had enough of it ; never will we come South again of our 
own free wills !" 

After breakfast the longed-for order was given : 

"Prepare to go ashore !" 

The steamer jarred heavily against the wooden pier, and with- 
out waiting for the gang-plank to be put in position and despite 
the orders of the officers, the expostulations of the guards, the 
prisoners jumped on the rails, and springing on shore touched 
Old Virginia soil once more, prisoners no longer. 

Some of our simple-minded ones, fearing from the difficulty 
they had in landing that they might even then be carried back 
to prison and to a much worse captivity than it had been their 
good fortune to know, took to their heels and struck manfully 
for the woods. 

Our boat having discharged its cargo, backed down the stream, 
while first one and then the other of the waiting steamers came to 
the wharf. Those prisoners that trooped slowly over the gang- 
plank, looking like the van-guard of the Resurrection, were from 
Fort Delaware. Scores seemed to be ill ; many were suft'ering 
from the scurvy, while all bore marks of severe treatment in their 
thin faces and wasted forms. They were in the dirtiest, filthiest 
condition imaginable, not a face there looked as if it had been 
washed for weeks. Their clothes were torn and ragged ; in fact 
some had not enough tatters to cover their nakedness. Take it 



BACK IN OIvD VIRGINIA 225 

all in all, it was the saddest sight that our eyes had ever looked 
upon and made the heart ache to witness it. 

Some of the men were now being carried ashore on stretchers, 
so enfeebled by illness that they could not walk. Several died 
a few hours after they had landed. There were brought off, also, 
the bodies of those few who had died on the voyage. 

A large portion of these men had been languishing in the 
gloomy Fort Delaware for over a year. It was curious to watch 
their delight as they touched Southern soil again. They would 
throw their caps in the air and dance about in an excitement of 
feeling that seemed impossible to control. Strong men, whose 
nerves were all unstrung by their long confinement and harrow- 
ing trials, burst into tears. A few, a very few, took matters coolly, 
and sauntered quietly away or stood meditatively looking upon 
the scene with feelings, perhaps, that were only deeper in that 
they found no expression. 

Scores of ambulances, wagons, hacks, carriages and buggies 
stood waiting at the landing, their drivers anticipating a rich re- 
ward in greenbacks (which commanded a high premium), for 
carrying the returned prisoners to Richmond. Nor were such 
speculations vain. No man of the whole crowd but was anxious 
to reach the city to secure passports and have his furlough made 
out to visit home. 

In a single rush every vehicle was jammed as close as a street 
car, with not even room for "one more." Not one-half were 
accommodated; many started to walk, hoping to reach Richmond, 
fifteen miles distant, by night. Others again preferred to sleep 
at Aikens, and next morning ride back in the carriages, which 
were expected to return. 

One of the Seventeenth, Hector Eaches, who had been separ- 
ated from us on account of his wound and sent to Governor's 
Island, had been removed to Fort Delaware. One boat still re- 
mained in the stream, whose prisoners would be landed in the 
night. I waited, hoping to find him in the last cargo. 

Lying on the shore on a bed of fragrant clover I waited for 
my true and tried friend and mess-mate. i\fter all, it was sweet 
to be free again, sweeter still to be at home. No sentinel in blue 
standing guard, no prison bars! Even though captivity be of 
the most pleasant kind, it is captivity after all. On the faces of 
those so lately prisoners, but who were now lyi^ig" on the grass 
15 



220 JOHNNY RE;B AND BILI^Y YANK 

smoking their pipes in an abandon of liberty, there rested ex- 
pressions of unmixed satisfaction, which were but the index of a 
grateful feeling within. 

Close by lay the bodies of four soldiers who had died on the 
boat from Fort Delaware, whose last wishes, "that they might 
be buried in the land they loved so well," were to be gratified. 
On their faces, too, marble wdiite in death as they were, rested a 
look of deeper rest, a rest no earth-troubles would ever break. 
The hand which released them from their suffering and set their 
souls at liberty could have been no unfriendly one, albeit Death's. 

My comrade joined me that night; his residence in Fort Dela- 
ware had sadly changed him ; for gone was the rich color of his 
once round face, now thin and attenuated and pale to ghastliness; 
his eyes stared strangely and were sunken, two crutches enabled 
him to hobble along; his voice, formerly so ringing in its sweet- 
ness (he had the sweetest voice in conversation and in song one 
ever listened to), was weak and faltering. I never again heard 
the laugh that once was ever ready to break from his lips. In 
short, a month's residence in Fort Delaware had changed him 
from the very picture of health and strength, of robust man- 
hood, into a lame, halting invalid, whose body and mind seemed 
to have received some great shock. 

By his actions, feeble as they were, and by his words he ex- 
pressed most extravagant joy at getting back alive. I made him 
as comfortable as I could and soon both were dreaming. 

Next morning he related all the horrors of his prison exper- 
ience at Fort Delaware, to which his appearance, made all the 
sadder-looking by bright sunlight, gave full emphasis. He told 
a plain, unvarnished tale, in which nothing was exaggerated and 
naught set down in malice ; a recital that every man who had 
crossed that gangway the day before would corroborate, for they 
all had but one story to tell, a summary of facts to which those 
rigid forms lying yonder bore silent and eloquent witness. With 
the smoke of our pipes curling about our heads in concentric 
circles we heard him tell his experience; and it is one I do not 
care to repeat, for what was Fort Delaware to us or we to Fort 
Delaware? The Federal Government had treated us royally. 
Why the seventy-five men of the Seventeenth Virginia had been 
chosen above all others to be sent to Fort Warren we never could 
tell; our officers said that it was admiration of our reckless bra- 
very in so small a force charging, all unsupported, the center of 
McClellan's army. If so, the Federals did not know the facts; 



BACK IN OI.D VIRGINIA 227 

it was the very last thing we wanted to do, and there would have 
been many stragglers in our ranks if the regiment had known 
what work was cut out for us to do. Certainly never during the 
war v/as such an instance ever known. It stands solitary and 
alone. Later on it would have been impossible ; but the pas- 
sions, the sectional hate of the people North and South had not 
been fully aroused in the summer of 1862. In truth, our captivity 
was but a summer jaunt North, an ocean voyage and several 
weeks at a watering-place, where we were treated more as hon- 
ored guests than as prisoners of war. The difference between 
Fort Warren, Elmira, Point Lookout and Camp Chase was that 
of Paradise and Purgatory. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE ADVANCE. 

After a furlough of two weeks the exchanged prisoners who 
had arrived at Aiken's Landing were ordered to report to their 
regiments immediately. The seventy-five men of the Seven- 
teenth, then enjoying those warm summer days in cool, shady 
country homes, were to repair at once to Gordonsville, and there 
join the First Brigade. 

We were loath to break the charm of ease and comfort which 
the past six weeks had thrown around us, but "needs must when 
the Devil drives," as the old saying has it, and military orders 
are not like either pie-crust or a politician's promises — made to 
be broken ; so with full haversacks, if not with full satisfaction, we 
started for our destination. 

A passing outline of the state of the armies during the past 
month, and a rapid horoscope of the future, will enable the reader 
to understand more clearly the movements of the troops at that 
time, and the grand climax to which they were tending, viz.. the 
Second Battle of Manassas. 

After McClellan's change of base from the front of Richmond 
to the banks of the James River, both armies, like two gladiators 
in the arena, took a long breathing time preparatory to closing 
in mortal combat once more. 

About the first of August the military authorities in Washing- 
ton had begim to make preparations for the campaign they knew 
must soon commence, to guard the National Capital against a 
sudden f^ank attack by Jackson, whose name had now become a 
household word and synonymous with rear attacks, flank ap- 
proaches, and all sorts of unexpected advances. The War De- 
partment had gathered, as Mr. Swinton characterized it, all the 
fag ends of armies in Northern Virginia, lately imder McDowell, 
Banks and Fremont, and consolidated them into the Army of 
Virginia. 

The command of this force was entrusted to Major-General 
John Pope, whose appointment had been made out as far back 
as the twenty-sixth of June, the day before the battle of Gaines' 
Mill, but was not delivered until a month after. 

General Pope now found himself in command of three corps : 



THi: ADVANCE 229 

McDowell, commanding the Third Infantry Corps 1^-575 

Cavalry 8,738 

Banks, commanding- the Second Infantry Corps and Ar- 
tillery 14,567 

Sigel, commanding the First Infantry Corps and Ar- 
tillery II ,498 



Total 53,378 

These figures are from the official returns of the Army of Vir- 
ginia, July thirty-first, 1862, General Pope's Report. 

General Halleck had been recalled from the West and ap- 
pointed by the War Department in Washington, general-in-chief 
of all the armies in the field. 

Pope assumed command of his army in fine spirits. He evi- 
dently had perfect confidence in his own powers, and from the 
certainty and strength of his convictions impressed others with 
a like assurance. He was the typical new broom which the De- 
partment had secured to sweep clean, and he proposed not only 
to sweep the Confederacy out of existence, but the very ''cob- 
webs from the sky." We all remember the nursery song. 

His method of conducting the campaign was certainly simple 
in design and according to strict mathematical rule. A straight 
line being the shortest distance between two points, that line he 
proposed taking. Though his first duty was to protect Washing- 
ton, his avowed intention was to capture the Rebel Capital by 
the untried way of an overland advance in this straight line. By 
aid of his eloquence he convinced the United States Committee 
on the Conduct of the War that this route would be the safest and 
best of all others. 

■'Give me," he said, "such an army as McClellan had and I will 
march straight to New Orleans."* 

When Pope assumed command he issued a proclamation to his 
troops which will stand alone for its amazing grandiloquence, 
charming simplicity, and its sententious bombast through all the 
tides of time. 

Caesar had his Veiii, ridi, vici. Napoleon reminded his soldiers 
that "Forty centuries were looking down upon them," but General 
Pope wrote this : 

* "Question : Suppose you had an army that was here on the first day of 
March (1862), do you suppose you would find any obstacle to prevent your march- 
ing to New Orleans? 

General Pope: "Should suppose not." 

Report on the Conduct of the War, Vol. i, page 282. 



230 JOHNNY REB AND BII,I,Y YANK 

"Soldiers : 

"I have come to you from the West, where we have ahvays seen 
the backs of our enemies, from an army whose business it is to 
seek the enemy and beat him wherever found, whose policy has 
been attack and not defense. 

"Disaster and shame lurk in the rear. 

"John Pope, 
"Major-General Commanding." 

Prophetic words ! Wonderful seer ! 

How the grim old veterans of McCIellan's splendid army, who 
had come back from the jaws of death, must have smiled, sardoni- 
cally smiled, when that order was read. 

It might have seemed easy enough to Pope to whip the Rebel 
army, but to them it had been so far rather a tough job. Pope 
evidently looked upon it much in the same light as the Irishman 
did the playing of the fiddle. When asked if he could play, "I 
never played before," quoth Pat, "but it has the looks of baing 
aisy, and by me sowl I thinks I kin do it if I thried." 

In the meanwhile, McClellan, the best organizer in America, 
had gotten his army in good condition, despite the sickness pre- 
vailing in his ranks. Every day the skies in the North were bright- 
ening, and every day the clouds in the South were darkening. 

General Lee, resting with his forces around Richmond, per- 
ceived that without some steps taken on his part the combina- 
tion being formed against him meant ruin and disaster. There 
was McClellan near to the Southern Capital in an unassailable 
position, able with ease and celerity to transfer his army across 
James River and operate on the south side, threatening the city 
in reverse and rear, and compelling the Rebel general to remain 
Vv'here he was, locking him up, as it were, in his own fortifications. 
At the same time another Federal army of over fifty thousand 
were preparing to launch themselves directly in his front, hence 
unless some steps looking to extrication were soon taken. Gen- 
eral Lee knew that the game would be ended and checkmate 
given. 

When contemplating an}^ great undertaking or a vast strategic 
combination, General Lee had an abstracted manner that was al- 
together unlike his usual one. He would seek some level sward 
and pace mechanically up and down with the regularity of a sen- 
tinel on his beat ; his head would be bent as if in deep meditation 
while his left hand unconsciously stroked his thick iron-gray 



the: advance 231 

beard. In such a manner did his brain evolve and shape the 
plans upon which hung the lives and destinies of thousands, the 
weal or woe of a people. This was the man quietly pacing up 
and down, upon whom rested the responsibility of baffling these 
two invading armies of a vast nation; a nation rich in treasure, 
rich in resources, fertile in expedients, and with the world at large 
from which to fill its overflowing ranks. 

When General Lee was in one of these "moods," his staff and 
orderlies, aware of the momentous results depending on these de- 
liberations, never approached him themselves nor allowed any one 
else to interrupt him. Like General Jackson's old darky, "by 
these signs, they felt a battle in their bones." 

"For whenever de masta's wakeful 
And whenever he prays and groans, 
Why dem dat lies by his camp-fire 
Feel battle in dere bones." 

Jackson ! Stonewall Jackson ! What a magnetism there is in 
that name even now. Bravest warrior ! Truest Christian ! 
Knightliest soul ! His was the one strong arm upon which Lee 
in all his trials and difficulties could always count. His was the 
mailed hand to strike the stunning blow ; his was the ripest coun- 
sel that advised and knew just when to strike and where. "My 
right hand" Lee called him. So in this emergency Jackson was 
summoned and came ; sitting under the shadow of a tree in the 
cool of the evening, Lee unfolded to his lieutenant his plans, which 
were as follows: 

Jackson with his corps would proceed northward to engage 
General Pope, while Lee stood ready to strike McClellan should 
he advance on Richmond, or join Jackson by a forced march 
should General McClellan see fit to combine his forces with Pope. 

It was General Lee's great hope that McClellan might evac- 
uate his base at Harrison's Landing, and transfer the war to 
Piedmont, Virginia, for Lee well knew that his opponent across 
the James threatened the most vulnerable point in his defenses, 
and that it was there that true military policy dictated the base 
of an advancing army. He knew also that an attack on his com- 
munications was what McClellan most dreaded, and that he there- 
fore would very likely decide upon the route, as affording the 
greatest safety and facility in that respect. Hence, he trusted 
that the alarm awakened at Washington by Jackson's advance 
against Pope would cause a withdrawal of McClellan's army and 
a change in his whole plan of campaign. 



232 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

General Halleck, commander-in-chief of the Federal Army, fell 
into that trap, and urged the retiring of McClellan's army. There- 
fore, on the third of August the young Napoleon commenced his 
retreat from the Peninsula to Aquia Creek, there to make a 
junction with Pope. 

When Lee saw this false movement of the enemy he must have 
been greatly relieved, for it gave him the chance of neutralizing 
numbers by strategical combinations on a broad area. 

About the fifteenth of July Jackson started for Gordons ville, 
which he reached on the nineteenth. There he halted, hearing of 
the large force under Pope, and sent to Lee for reinforcements. 
A. P. Hill's division, in response, was forwarded to him, reaching 
Gordonsville on the second of August. At this time Pope's 
army was along the turnpike extending from Culpeper to Sperry- 
ville, while his cavalry did picket duty on the Rapidan. 

On the eighteenth of August Jackson began to start things in 
earnest. Breaking camp with his troops in light marching order 
he moved down the road to Culpeper Court Flouse. Eight 
miles south of the Court House he ran into Banks's corps, which 
had taken position on Cedar Mountain. A hard-fought action 
occurred, which, though indecisive in its immediate results, yet 
caused Jackson to establish his base at Gordonsville, and created 
in the minds of the authorities at Washington the liveliest ap- 
prehension for the safety of the National Capital. 

Halleck sent urgent telegrams to McClellan to hasten and join 
Pope, as the danger was imminent. 

McClellan was doing his best, but it required time and infinite 
labor to change one base for another, and to transfer a large army 
across several rivers or carry them by steam to the desired point. 
He had marched his army from Harrison's Landing on the James 
River to Fortress Monroe, and by transports and steamers for- 
warded his troops by instalments to Aquia Creek. 

Watching with a cool and critical eye these different move- 
ments unfold themselves, Lee now determined on his course 
of action. It was so simple, so plain that every private soldier 
in his ranks could understand its workings. Relieved from the 
menacing presence of McClellan, he intended moving his entire 
army northward to join Jackson, and together destroy Pope 
before McClellan could reinforce him. 

On the twelfth of August Lee broke camp around Richmond 
and put his columns in motion. On the fifteenth the van of his 



THE ADVANCE 233 

<irmy, Longstreet's division and Stuart's cavalry, united with 
Jackson's forces at Gordonsville. 

As soon as Pope discovered that this dangerous bolt had been 
forged to hurl upon him, he drew his army back behind the Rap- 
pahannock and shouted lustily for help. This retreat was in good 
sense, but Pope did not lie off the flanks of the Rebel army as he 
had promised the War Department to do, but decided upon the 
more sensible thing of concentrating his army in a compact space 
wdiere it could be easily handled. 

Lee now determined on acting on one of his bold conceptions — 
to send Jackson around in Pope's rear and cut him off from Wash- 
ington, while he would attack in front. Such a step was rash and 
fraught with many dangers, for Pope, by turning his whole army 
on Jackson, might overwhelm him before Lee could assist. 
It was a game full of nice calculations as well as chances; and if 
the Rebel general had not entertained a rather poor opinion of 
his adversary's military talent, he would hardly have dared to 
divide his army into two parts with a chain of mountains between 
in which there were but few gaps. At all events a great deal of 
danger was incurred, not to speak of the difficulty and doubt of 
reaching his lieutenant in time had an emergency arisen calling 
for a junction of forces. 

However, he decided; and Jackson, with 17,300 rank and file, 
set off on the morning of the twenty-fifth of August and moved up 
the western side of the Bull Run Mountains, lying between him 
and the Yankee posts. (See Jackson's Official Report.) A forced 
niarch of twenty miles brought him to Thoroughfare Gap, by 
niarching through which he would gain the Union rear. This 
pass, which by the commonest instinct of military prudence should 
have been guarded by General Pope, was left open to his enemy. 
Early in the morning of the twenty-seventh, Jackson slipped 
through, and that night struck Bristow Station on the Orange 
and Alexandria Railroad, from which depot Pope drew a large 
portion of his supplies. Of course Jackson's men filled their 
haversacks and themselves, and around their camp-fires that night 
feasted on potted game and canned preserves washed down with 
Rhine wine and champagne. 

On the morning of the twenty-eighth Jackson's foot-cavalry 
reached Manassas Junction, where there was a town such as one 
sees in the mining camps on the Pacific slope. The sutlers had 
brought along liberal supplies, and judging from the neat frame 
buildings erected by them, they had come to stay. Here it was 



234 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

that Pope's quartermasters had collected a vast depot of supplies for 
the army. In about fifteen minutes the sutler stores were sacked. 
Then as the drum beat for falling in the match was applied and soon 
the flames from these buildings were mingling with those that shot 
toward the sky from the burning camp supplies. In a couple of 
hours the town of canvas and pines was a smouldering waste. 

Lee had remained in front of Pope, but on the other side of the 
Bull Run Mountains. On the twenty-sixth Longstreet's divis- 
ion set out to reinforce Jackson. Pope, suspecting the intent of 
this movement, began to fall back toward Manassas, where half 
of Jackson's troops were standing upon their arms. Ewell's di- 
vision was still at Bristow Station, at which place they were at- 
tacked on the morning of the twenty-seventh by Hooker, who did 
not, however, press the advance. 

This slight engagement convinced Jackson that he was in dan- 
ger of being himself surrounded by the enemy, who were even 
then closing upon him. His only chance was to fall back to 
Thoroughfare Gap and effect a junction with Longstreet, who was 
hastening to his relief. As a feint to this movement, he moved 
off toward Centerville, then turned abruptly to the west, crossed 
Bull Run and took position about a mile northwest of last year's 
battle-fields. The position was selected with great care and judg- 
ment ; the abandoned cutting and the embankments of the rail- 
road forming the best kind of rifle-pits. 

Pope was close behind and now felt that the great opportunity 
of his life had arrived. On the morning of the twenty-ninth he 
commenced to throw his whole army against Jackson, purposing 
to crush him before Longstreet could come with succor. Sigel 
and McDowell hurled their separate corps against the Rebel line 
and were driven back with great loss. Jackson by hard work held 
his own and late in the evening received the welcome news that 
Longstreet would join him in the morning, the van of the ap- 
proaching division being seen filing through the gap as the sun 
went down. 

At nightfall Jackson's extreme left was considerably drawn in 
toward the left-center, a movement which had the aspect of a 
retreat. 

On the morning of the thirtieth neither party, it seems, was 
anxious to begin the fray ; but at noon Pope, thinking that Jack- 
son was in full retreat, ordered his whole line to advance. Never 
was a greater mistake. Longstreet's corps had now arrived and 
were taking position. Lee massed his forces in the form of an 



THK ADVANCD. 235 

irregular L, Jackson's command forming the longer line and 
about half of Longstreet's the shorter; the balance being held 
in reserve. 

So, stripped to the waist, both parties commenced the fight, 
eager for the fray. 

On the morning of the thirtieth of August, the decisive day, 
after deducting the losses in the engagements of the twenty-sev- 
enth, twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth, General Pope reports his 
effective strength (including reinforcements) as follows: 

McDowell's Corps, including Reynolds's Division, 12,000 

Sigel's Corps, 7,000 

Reno's Corps, 7,000 

Heintzelman's Corps, 7,000 

Porter's Corps, 12,000 

Banks's Corps, 5,ooo 

Total, 50,000 

(General Pope's Report, page 156.) 

In addition to these troops there were in reserve the divisions 
of Sturgis and Cox and the corps of Sumner and Franklin. 
These two corps together, numbering thirty thousand men, were 
only a day's march distant from Pope, but did not join him until 
after his retreat to Centerville. 

Sturgis's division was ten thousand strong, and Cox's seven 
thousand, so that from first to last there were assembled in front 
of Washington, as shown by official reports, not less than one 
hundred and twenty thousand men, though not half were brought 
into action. Pope put his strength the day after the battle at 
sixty-three thousand men. 

Lee's fighting force all told, comprising both Jackson's and Long- 
street's corps, amounted to forty-nine thousand and seventy-seven 
men. (Adjutant-General Walter Taylor's Report in his book, 
"Four Years With General Lee," page 62.) 

Pope having made the fatal military blunder of advancing his 
forces before he knew to a certainty Longstreet's position and at 
what time and place to expect him, paid dearly for his folly. The 
corps of Reno and Heintzelman, making the attack, were driven 
back with much loss. Fitz John Porter's corps, which up to this 
time had taken no part in the events of the campaign, was ordered 
to move upon Jackson's right, their line of march, all unknown to 



236 JOHNNY REB AND BII.I.Y YANK 

them, passing by Longstreet's division, which thus lay upon its 
flanks. 

Porter's assault was so vigorous and determined that Jackson 
called for aid, but Longstreet, perceiving his advantage, instead 
of reinforcing Jackson, opened by order of Lee all his batteries 
upon Porter, and in a few moments advanced his infantry. Por- 
ter, outnumbered, was hurled back straight across the plateau 
toward Bull Run. Jackson now received a courier from Lee 
and simultaneously advanced his line, pressing back Heintzelman 
and McDowell. The angle between the Rebel wings gradually 
lessened and the sides seemed to enclose Pope's army like a vise. 

The Yankee retreat threatened to become a general rout, more 
disastrous than that on the same battle-ground a little over a 
year before. The man to save the Grand Army of the Potomac 
was on the spot. Colonel Warren, who was then commanding a 
small brigade. 

He, seeing the threatened disintegration of the Federal host, 
with one of those happy inspirations born of the occasion, threw 
his brigade, without waiting for orders, upon an eminence west of 
the Henry House called Bald Hill, and held it until surrounded 
on three sides, for just that space of time keeping the Rebels in 
check. His men fought unyieldingly and with the savage 
tenacity of bulldogs. Never was bravery more signally acknowl- 
edged, for it saved the army. Out of one thousand and ninety 
men with whom Warren maintained this position, he lost in 
about fifteen minutes four hundred killed and wounded. 

This check enabled Porter's corps to retire across Bull Run by 
the stone bridge, and forced the Rebels to halt and reform their 
lines. It was nearly dark by that time, but Longstreet's corps 
carried Bald Hill by an impetuous attack, and the battle was 
ended. Under cover of the night the wearied, beaten Federal 
army retired to Centerville and took position on its heights. 
Owing to the darkness and the uncertainty of the fords of Bull 
Run, General Lee attempted no pursuit. 

At Centerville Pope united with the corps of Sumner and 
Franklin, there remaining during the whole of the thirty-first. 

Lee had not given up the pursuit ; for leaving Longstreet leis- 
urely advancing northward, he sent Jackson by a detour on 
Pope's right to strike the Little River turnpike, and by that 
route to intercept if possible Pope's retreat to Washington. 
Jackson did strike Pope's right at Ox Hill near Germantown, and 



THE ADVANCE 237 

close to Chaiitilly engaged the enemy with Ewell's and Hill's 
divisions, beating them back. 

Pope had his troops massed. Jackson, seeing no chance of 
succeeding in his task, halted and awaited orders from Lee. 

So ended the great "Second Battle of Manassas," which came 
near being the Federal Waterloo, through the military blunderer 
and vain pretender. General John A. Pope. 

There is no account of the losses in this bloody battle, but they 
must have been terrible. Lee's general reports put the Rebel 
loss at one thousand and ninety killed and six thousand five hun- 
dred and fourteen wounded; total, seven thousand six hundred 
and four. Only partial reports of the Federal loss were given 
and these indicated a loss of eleven thousand killed and wounded 
and seven thousand five hundred taken prisoners; in all nearly 
twenty thousand men. 

General Pope, who hitherto "had only seen the backs of his 
enemies," whose business it had been to "seek the enemy and beat 
him wherever found," whose policy had been attack and not 
defense, fell back to Washington and resigned his command. 

"Disaster and shame had lurked in the rear." 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE SKCOND MANASSAS. 

Having outlined the main events of the present campaign in the 
preceding chapter, we return again to the Seventeenth, which we 
unceremoniously left at Gordonsville cleaning muskets and cook- 
ing three days' rations preparatory to the march. 

Saturday night, August sixteenth, the brigade camped at 
Orange Court House. On Sunday the drum beat the long roll 
and the men fell into line. The troops were all in light marching 
order; a blanket or oilcloth, a single shirt, a pair of drawers and 
a pair of socks rolled tightly therein was swung on the right 
shoulder while the haversack hung on the left. These, with a 
cartridge-box suspended from the belt, and a musket carried at 
will, made up Johnny Reb's entire equipment. As for uniforms, 
there were not two men clothed alike in the whole regiment, bri- 
gade or division; some had caps, some wore hats of every 
imaginable shape and in every stage of dilapidation, varied in 
tint by the different shades of hair which protruded through the 
holes and stuck out like quills upon the fretful porcupine ; the 
jackets were also of different shades, ranging from light gray 
with gilt buttons, to black with wooden ones; the pants were for 
the most part of that nondescript hue which time and all weathers 
give to ruins, or if with the eye of an artist you still sought to 
name the color, you would be apt to find it, with a strange fatality, 
like that of the soil ; white shirts there were none, shirts of darker 
shade were scarce, owing to the stringency of the market; some 
of the men wore boots, others the army brogans; but many were 
bare-footed ; all were dusty and dirty, for no clothes had been 
issued since the commencement of the early spring campaign. This 
accounted for the rags and tatters, though the cones and pins of 
white pine must be held responsible for some of the holes. 
Human looks did not count for much in this crowd, with whom, 
though everything else were dull, eyes and gun-barrels yet 
flashed brightly; neither had the hopes which loomed in their 
breasts become dimmed, and all else was subservient. 

In marching, the troops had learned how to get over the 
ground without raising such clouds of dust and choking them- 
selves with the flying particles. The ranks of fours would split, 



the; second MANASSAS 239 

one-half to the right and the other to the left, and then choosing 
untrod ground they would proceed with infinitely less trouble and 
annoyance than in the old way of marching in solid column. Of 
course the ubiquitous camp darky, with cooking utensils piled 
high on his back, brought up the rear of each company. 

Our rations were doled out in sparing quantities ; three crack- 
ers per man and a half pound of fat pork was the daily allowance. 
The cravings of hunger were hardly satisfied by the dole, but soon 
we were to get nothing from the commissary. 

Every soldier in the army knew by these measures that they 
were on the way to meet our old enemy who had left the vicinity 
of Richmond only to appear somewhere in our front between the 
Rappahannock and the Potomac. The men were becoming vet- 
eran soldiers rapidly, and began to understand their work ; they 
were no longer found burdening themselves with useless articles ; 
they ceased to brood over the possible or probable results of the 
war, its length and its hardships ; they had acquired the habit of 
implicit obedience to superior officers ; they had learned how to 
make a pound of meat and bread go a long way by eating at 
stated times ; they had become adepts in the art of foraging and 
they knew how to practice self-denial as a virtue when it had 
become in fact a necessity; they had learned too a hundred little 
ways of adding to their comfort ; for instance, taking off their 
shoes on a level stretch of sandy road, of bathing their feet in 
every running brook, of carrying leaves in their hats as protection 
against the sun, or lying stretched out at full length at every halt 
instead of sitting down ; indeed, the devices to make the best of 
each opportunity filled every spare crack and crevice of the sol- 
dier's brain, and were too numerous to record. They were little 
things, it is true, but in the aggregate they amounted to much and 
were such as marked the difference in a personal combat between 
the strong unskilled man and the trained athlete. 

When a soldier had learned how to take care of himself in this 
manner he rarely broke down, never grumbled, never straggled 
unless he had a positive cause, and with enough to eat was bound 
to answer to his name at the evening tattoo. 

In this march the Sibley tents — those abominations, those 
breeders of disease — were forever discarded, and the troops either 
bivouacked in the woods or strung themselves out along the road, 
anywhere in fact where there was a rail fence and water. Many 
of us carried a little thin cotton tent, sufficient to shelter four 
men from rain, miniature affairs about the size of a sheet, that 



240 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

only weighed about two pounds, and buttoning together 
answered every purpose. This was a Yankee invention, our 
Government not issuing them, but nearly every soldier had one, 
confiscated from our obliging friends across the way, upon whose 
patent we infringed without the slightest compunction. 

For over a week the column tramped steadily along, passing 
Kelly's Ford, where the old familiar scream of the Yankee shells 
greeted our ears. It was only a retiring battery, which limbered 
up before any reply could be dispatched. A whole day's rest was 
vouchsafed us at Stevensburg, which place in commerce and 
population consisted of only one house. On the twenty-third 
the division halted at Brandy Station, and marched to the edge of 
Rappahannock Run, across which could be seen the long line of 
Yankee infantry marching ofT, while their artillery crowned the 
hills ready to pour a rain of iron upon any who should attempt to 
advance. 

In the evening, as the brigade was resting on the ground, there 
came one of those sudden violent thunder-storms so common 
during a hot mid-summer term. The sky grew dark, the air 
became heavy, the wind died away and then the tornado burst in 
all its fury. 

The men were strongly averse to getting their clothes wet, and 
\>-ishing at the same time to take a shower-bath fresh from the 
sky itself, they disrobed speedily. Placing their clothes under 
oilcloths, they sat or danced around with as much glee as if the 
storm had been gotten up for their benefit, and much in the same 
way that Adam must have done. It was rather an amusing spec- 
tacle, and if our well-dressed enemy had burst among us with a 
sudden flank attack, they would probably have run in very amaze- 
ment, thinking a world of bedlamites had broken loose, or that 
the storm had rained down beings from another world who were 
performing weird and mystic rites. The clouds emptied them- 
selves at the right time, for it had been weeks since the men had 
bathed, and this great shower-bath of Nature's was therefore as 
kindly in its offices as it was refreshing. 

After the rain had washed men and earth, had bathed the trees 
and grass until they glistened, had started a hundred rivulets 
flowing on a long journey ocean-ward, had laid and exorcised for 
a time the demon Dust, had revived and furbished up all Nature, 
the clouds rolled back, the sun came out and dried the bodies of 
our dripping warriors, and that night the division bivouacked at 
Waterloo. 



THE SECOND MA]NASSAS 24 1 

On the twenty-fifth of August, 1862, to the sound of random 
cannon shots the soldiers stepped out briskly, crossing the Rap- 
pahannock River by a ford at Waterloo. Just before noon, when 
we were on the opposite side, the brigade witnessed the destruc- 
tion by the enemy of Warrenton Springs, whose two splendid 
hotels were burned to the ground. The large and lofty ball-room, 
wide passages and spacious corridors with lofty columns were soon 
crumbling masses of ruins. 

On the twenty-seventh the division reached Salem late at 
night, after a forced march of many miles which broke down a 
good many of the men. The little village was occupied by the 
Yankees, but they suddenly concluded to leave as Longstreet's 
van-guard filed in. Wearied and prostrated by the heat, and 
fatigued as were our troops, they were called into ranks again 
after a short rest, and did not stop until they had reached the 
Plains, a little hamlet close to Thoroughfare Gap. It was long 
after midnight when about one-fourth of the original force limped 
into a field and stacked their arms. The balance were strung out 
along the road, but they soon began to come in by twos and threes, 
and before sunrise nearly every absentee was in ranks. 

In the morning no hurry was manifested by the leaders to ad- 
vance, though the booming oi the cannon came at intervals from 
across the mountains. A squad from the regiment, a few choice 
spirits who could never let well enough alone, who if they could 
not find trouble or danger ready at hand ahvays went out of their 
way to seek them, obtained permission from our colonel to proceed 
in the advance and await the arrival of the brigade at the Gap. 
So Walter Addison, Harmon and myself started on ahead, leaving 
the division resting in a large field right at the base of the 
up-rearing mountain. We were soon at the Gap, which was 
found to be strongly guarded by the enemy. 

Here was "a go," as Joe would say, "a precious go," for our 
picket refused to let us approach any closer. An hour or two 
passed, when suddenly there was a commotion at the Gap. A 
rattling volley came from the rear, and the enemy broke and 
ran, leaving behind some fifty killed and wounded. One of our 
brigades had crossed the mountain higher up at Hopewell's Gap 
and stormed the enemy in the rear, while our troops menaced the 
front. Of course the foe had to strike for his home and his 
country, especially the former. 

The van of Longstreet was now passing through the Gap and 
Jackson was safe. 
16 



242 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

Keeping along the railroad track, and impelled by that spirit 
of adventure which urges an advance in a strange country, not 
Imowing what to expect, we continued our way. About a mile 
farther a picket on our side halted us, saying he was the last 
vidette and that the enemy held possession only a few hundred 
yards up the track. Turning to retrace our steps, we heard the 
sound of rapid cannon firing on our left, and proceeded in that 
direction until the scene of action was nearly reached. Close 
enough for those who were not obliged to go into battle, for the 
shells were hitting around rather carelessly and the purplish rim 
of smoke demonstrated that the musketry, not a half mile away, 
was engaged in its deadly work. We halted and held a council of 
war wherein all had equal voice, for all were "High Privates," 
whether 'twere better — but just here a noise was heard up the 
road, and two batteries of the Washington Artillery went by at 
a gallop, half hidden by the cloud of dust that was raised. The 
men were hanging on as best they could, or were keeping along- 
side at the top of their speed, while the drivers were lashing their 
horses unmercifully. 

"Where are you bound?" shouted one of the party to an ofificer 
wfio reined up to let the caissons pass. 

"To the front !" was the reply ; "the Yankees are pressing us 
hard." 

This settled the rising discussion, and the council quickly 
passed a unanimous resolution to see the fun out. We kept on 
in the rear of the artillery until it took position on a high crest; 
there we seceded and started in the direction of the musketry 
firing, passing on the way Pickett's Virginians lying on the 
ground drawn up in line of battle in a strip of woods. Most of 
the men were asleep, though the artillery was thundering and 
the volume of musketry was growing greater every minute. 
They had become used to these sounds, and as the turning wheels 
in the mill is to the miller, as the lullaby of the nurse to the fretful 
child, so was the music of cannonading to these veterans, only 
lulling them to a deeper sleep. 

Not far in the advance we came upon a group of general offi- 
cers who, mounted on their horses, were intently studying the field 
through glasses. Seeing us wandering aimlessly about, one of 
the number ordered us back to our regiments, and so we had to 
retrace our steps. Every man of us had come out to see some- 
thing at any price, consequently we flanked the officers and bore 
to the left, where there was a hill covered with trees. Selecting 



THE SECOND MANASSAS 243 

the tallest we climbed it, though as the shells went by from the 
enemy's batteries, not two thousand yards distant, one of us slid 
down in a hurry. 

From the top of a tree a glorious view unfolded itself, a pano^ 
rama of hill and vale far off in the distance. Right in a valley, a 
little over a mile away, were the combatants nearly hidden by the 
opaque curtain of smoke that had fallen upon the scene like a 
heavy fog upon a river. Through the slate-colored vapor the 
vivid flashing of the guns and blaze of musketry would burst as 
lightning from a cloudy sky; then the smoke would lift from one 
part of the field, and give a passing glimpse of irregular lines ad- 
vancing or retreating, of men falling, of glittering arms, and then 
dense volumes of smoke from the cannon would roll over the 
scene once more and hide it from our gaze. For hours we kept 
on our perches, entranced by the spectacle of a great battle raging 
before our eyes, and did not move until night put an end to the 
conflict. 

I thought then that if it were possible to build lofty seats where 
we were, with tickets placed on sale, what an enormous price they 
would bring. What were the combats of the gladiators in the 
Coliseum of Rome in the days of Nero to the grand spectacle of 
two of the bravest armies in the world contending for mastery, 
where, in the space of a mile, forty thousand men in plain view were 
engaged. There was not a charge upon Jackson's position that 
was not plainly in view. There was not a battery vomiting their 
death missiles that was not distinct. Individual suffering none 
could see, but the glorious panoply of war was all there. Yes, 
the box-office receipts would have been immense, and there was 
not an emperor, a king, or sultan that would not have graced the 
occasion by his presence. When years afterwards I gazed on 
scenes of mimic warfare I always thought of that spectacle, the 
like of which but few eyes ever beheld. 

Collecting some fagots, we broiled our meat, discussed the 
chances of to-morrow's battle over our pipes, and solaced our- 
selves with the hope, fortified by a strong determination, that if 
our lives were spared, by this time the next night we would each 
have a Yankee haversack lined with a little bag of pure coffee; 
ditto, one of sugar. 

The twenty-ninth of August was a sultry, hot day, and we ex- 
pected every moment to hear a renewal of the battle just where 
it had left off the night before. Everything, on the contrary, was 
most serene ; and as our scout returned with the information that 



244 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

the Seventeenth had not yet filed through the Gap, we deter- 
mined to visit the battle-field of yesterday. 

Burial parties had been at work at the earliest dawn, and long 
trenches were seen, which iigarked tlie place where scores of brave 
men were lying coftinless side by side. The wounded had all 
been removed in the night ; hence there were but few shocking 
scenes to revolt the mind ; only an overturned caisson, a few 
mangled horses, the blackened grass, bloody rags, and that was 
all. 

A large number of Rebel and Yankee wounded lay together, 
cheek by jowl, in blankets under the shade of the trees. They 
were treated impartially, no difference of any kind being niade. 
Many of the wounded were only slightly hurt, and the blue and 
the gray jackets mixed with one another with the utmost fra- 
ternity, joked, sang songs, bantered each other upon the length 
of the war, told camp stories, while some were drinking coffee 
from the same cup ; men at whose hearts each had aimed the 
deadly rifle only a few hours before. 

How the Yankees did enjoy smoking the Rebel tobacco! At 
the North they sold the soldiers a vile compound made of chick- 
ory, cabbage and sumac leaves ground together and christened 
tobacco. It burned the tongue, patched the throat, and almost 
salivated the consumer. 

It was a subject for meditation to a politician of the extreme 
type to watch Johnny Reb and Billy Yank smoke the pipe of tem- 
porary peace. The privates of both armies never personally dis- 
liked one another ; they were the best friends in the world as soon 
as they met on neutral ground. 

The rapid pounding of the artillery caused us to hurry through 
the morning meal, almost before the sun rose above the hill, and 
we pushed for Thoroughfare Gap to rejoin the regiment. We 
knew by instinct that there w^ould be a battle that day; for 
there was blood upon the moon. We fancied we could per- 
ceive, with another sense, the marshalling in mid-air of cohorts 
from the unseen world, preparing to take their part in the 
coming struggle, guiding a bullet home here, interposing to 
save a life there, taking charge of disembodied souls after 
the mortal had put on sudden immortality and stood shivering on 
the borders of the Unknown Shore. The air was coming 
from the mountains, every breath so pure and fresh, odorous with 
the scent of ripening fruit and clover blossoms ; clean, sweet 
air, so soon to be tainted with corruption and putrescence. The 



THE SECOND MANASSAS 245 

mountains were looking down upon the plains with patience in- 
finite it seemed, not stolidly as the Pyramids watched the French 
squares and the Mameluke cavalry arrange themselves for war, 
but as sad, pitying witnesses of a coming scene their holy presence 
would fain have calmed. Never had life seemed more worth 
living than on a morning such as this ; never existence sweeter ; 
never Death so loath the dying. 

Long streams of soldiers were wending their way to the front. 
The troops seemed everywhere ; they filled the railroad track as 
far as the eye could reach ; they emerged from the narrow gap in 
the mountain, and spread out over the fields and meadows; they 
wound along the base of the hills, and marched in a steady tramp 
over the dusty highways ; following a dozen different routes, but 
each face turned directly or obliquely northward. Ordnance 
wagons were being pushed rapidly ahead; batteries were taking 
position, staff officers were riding at a gallop, as if seconds and 
minutes were golden. In short, all fighting material was pushing 
to the van and all the peacefully inclined were valiantly seeking the 
rear. By a law as fixed as that which bound the Stoics, as un- 
alterable as those which govern the affinities of the chemical 
world, this separation of the two types ever occurred on the eve 
of battle. An instant sifting of wheat from the tares took place 
quietly but surely in every company, and the mass of men so 
lately mingled became as incapable of mixture as oil and water. 

The great receding tide at full ebb sank back toward the Gap; 
the mighty army of the backsliders whom naught could hinder, 
non-combatants, camp darkies, shirking soldiers playing possum, 
and camp followers. Warm work was expected and all this 
genus, like war-horses, ''sniffed danger from afar." 

Some were on foot, carrying arms full of muskets which the 
ordnance officer was sending to the rear ; others were loaded with 
accoutrements and blankets which they were transferring to a 
secure place, watched and guarded by a sentry ; for this riff-raff of 
the army was not noted for its honesty. A few were the pos- 
sessors, for the time, of a broken-down horse or spavined mule 
and were urging these poor animals to their fastest speed. 

It was this crowd belonging to the wagon-train or detailed for 
work such as blacksmithing, using every artifice to avoid the 
marching and the fighting, which hung on the army like barnacles 
on a staunch ship's bottom, impeding its course and weighting it 
down. It was the impedimenta that flocked to the battle-field 
as soon as the shot and shell ceased firing, and despoiled and 



246 JOHNNY REB AND BILIyY YANK 

stripped friend and foe alike, dead or wounded, it mattered not, 
though they never killed or illtreated the injured or maimed. 

Reaching the Gap we found that the brigade had passed 
through. Following hard upon the track, our little squad after 
an hour's march caught up and took its place in rank. 

The men were in a fearful humor, grumbling at their luck and 
cursing the commissary. They had ample cause; not a single 
ration had been issued to the troops for several days and the sol- 
diers were savage from hunger. 

The brigade halted in line of battle about half a mile this side 
of the famous Chinn House, on the outskirts of a large corn-field. 
There it was that the lines were broken, and the brigade dis- 
persed in a second. The officers, tired of shouting themselves 
hoarse, joined the men in the rush for roasting ears, which were 
now in full ripeness, and never was a field gleaned so com- 
pletely and in such a short time. Three thousand men made 
onslaught. There was a confused noise of breaking stalks ; the 
tops and waving tassels of the whole field were shaken violently 
as if a sudden tornado had passed over them, and each soldier 
returned lugging in his arms a pile of succulent, juicy corn. No 
fires were allowed to be built, so the ears were devoured raw. 
We secured more than our share, for the other brigade com- 
manders sent details with wagons all over the county, taking all 
the corn they could lay their hands on, and issuing daily rations 
to the troops of three ears of corn to a man, and nothing more. 
It is a solemn fact that Longstreet's corps had received no 
rations for four days, and lived on daily allowances of green corn, 
fighting and winning a great battle on empty stomachs. 

The forenoon had passed and the sound of hostile cannon was 
breaking the silence in our front while a battle was being fought 
on our left. At this dread hour, when the human mind becomes 
alive to the awful problem of its final abiding place, and hope, 
fear and wonder pass through the preternaturally excited brain, 
then it is that the devout soldiers look resigned, the thoughtless 
grave, and the scoffers solemnly silent. The Christian soldier's 
Bible is in brisk demand, and as that type of manhood was now 
rare in the old brigade, the "Good Book" was very popular and 
a score of famishing Rebs were waiting to read a chapter before 
the signal to commence the fight was given. It would have been 
pathetic to watch the erstwhile laughing, reckless, jeering in- 
fantryman waiting his turn to cram several chapters of the Bible 



THE SECOND MANASSAS 247 

SO as to increase his chance of salvation, had it not been so humer- 
ous to hear the exclamations of the impatient throng. 

"Hurry up there, Ned, we'll all get killed before you get 
through," one remarked earnestly. 

A second soldier on the outside of the circle chimed in, 

"What does Ned care if we all are damned, so he is saved?" 

"That's Ned all over," responded Walter Addison, his bosom 
friend. 

"Make haste there, Ned Sangster, they're firing like hell over 
yonder !" and so on, until a vast cloud of dust began to ascend 
toward the sky, evidence that great bodies of men were in motion. 

"Fall in!" the officers shouted, and the men sprang to their feet, 
the line was dressed, and the brigade headed to the front to take 
position. On the way we were halted, and every soldier was 
compelled to strip for the fight by discarding his blanket, — if he 
had one, which was not often — oilcloth or overcoat. All these 
were deposited in a large pile, and guards set over them, looking 
very much as if we did not intend to retreat. Cartridge-boxes were 
filled with forty rounds, and in our haversacks we carried twenty 
more, making sixty rounds per man. 

Soon the crack of the skirmisher's rifles were heard, then the 
artillery opened, and the purple-colored smoke drifted like mist 
from lowland marshes, across the valley. 

"Forward ! Guide to the colors ! March !" 

Across that level plateau the First Brigade moved, the flower 
of Virginia in its ranks, the warm blood rushing in its veins as it 
did in warrior ancestors centuries ago. It was a glorious and 
magnificent display, the line keeping perfect time, the colors 
showing red against the azure sky. There was no cheering, only 
the rattling of the equipments and the steady footfalls of the men 
who trod the earth with regular beat. As the brigade swept 
across the plain it was stopped by a high Virginia snake fence; 
hundreds of willing hands caught the rails, tossed them aside, and 
then instinctively touching each other's elbows, the ranks were 
dressed as if by magic. 

The first shell now shrieked over us. Another burst not ten 
feet from the ground directly over the heads of our forces. The 
long chain kept intact, though close to the spot where the explo- 
sion occurred; the links vibrated and oscillated for a moment, 
then grew firm again and pressed onward. 

How the shells rained upon us now; a Yankee six-gun battery, 
on a hill about half a mile off, turned its undivided attention upon 



248 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

US and essayed to shatter the advancing hne. It did knock a gap 
here and there, but the break was mended ahiiost as soon as 
broken, and the hving wall kept on. Shells were bursting every- 
where, until it seemed as if we were walking on torpedoes. They 
crackled, split and exploded all around, throwing dirt and eject- 
ing little spirts of smoke that for a moment dimmed the sky. 

Colonel Marye dismounted, drew his sword from the scabbard, 
and looking the beau ideal of a splendid soldier, placed himself at 
the head of his men. He stopped for a moment and pointed his 
sword with an eloquent and vivid gesture toward the battery on 
the hill. A cheer answered him, and the line instinctively quick- 
ened its pace. Though the shells were tearing through the ranks, 
the men did not falter. One man's resonant voice was sounding 
above the din, exercising a magical influence ; one man's figure 
strode on in front and where he led, his men kept close behind. We 
followed unwaveringly our colonel over the hill, down the de- 
clivity, up the slope, straight across the plain toward the battery, 
with even ranks, though the balls were tearing a way through 
flesh and blood. The brigade stretched out for several hundred 
yards, forming, as they marched, a bow with concave toward the 
enemy. The Seventeenth was on the right of the line, and the 
other regiments dressed by our colors as we bore right oblique 
toward the battery, which was now hidden by a volleying fume 
that settled upon the crest. 

Still the advance was not stayed nor the ranks broken. We 
neared the Chinn House, when suddenly a long line of the enemy 
rose from behind an old stone wall and poured straight in our 
breasts a withering volley at point-blank distance. It was so un- 
expected, this attack, that it struck the long line of men like an 
electric shock. Many were falling killed or wounded, and but for 
the intrepid coolness of its colonel, the Seventeenth would have 
retired from the field in disorder. His clear, ringing voice was 
heard, and the wavering line reformed. A rattling volley 
answered the foe, and for a minute or two the contest was fiercely 
waged. Then the colonel fell with his knee frightfully shattered 
by a Minie-ball. Once down, the calm, reassuring tones heard no 
longer, the line broke. Now individual bravery made up for the 
disaster. The officers surged ahead with their swords waving^ in 
the air, cheering on the men, who kept close to their heels, load- 
ing and firing as they ran. The line of blue was not fifty yards 
distant and every man took a sure, close aim before his finger 
pressed the trigger. It was a decisive fight of about ten minutes, 



THK SECOND MANASSAS 249 

and both sides stood up gamely to their work. Our foes were a 
Western regiment from Ohio, who gave and received and asked no 
odds. The left of our brigade having struck the enemy's right 
and doubled it up, now sent one volley into their flank. 

In a moment the blue line quivered and then went to pieces. 
Officers and men broke for the rear, one regimental colors cap- 
tured by Jim Coleman, of the Seventeenth. In a few moments 
there were none left except the dead and wounded. 

There was hardly a breathing spell, only time indeed to take a 
full draught from the canteen, transfer the cartridges from the 
haversacks to the cartridge-box, and the enemy was upon us with 
a fresh line. 

We were now loading and firing at the swiftly approaching 
enemy, who were about two hundred yards distant, advancing 
straight toward us and shouting v,'ith their steady hurrah, so 
different from the Rebel yell. It was a trying moment and 
proved the metal of the individual man. Some ran, or white with 
fear cowered behind the Chinn House, while others hid in a long 
gulley near by ; others yet stood in an irregular form and loaded 
and fired, unmindful of the dust and noise of the hurtling shell and 
screaming shot. 

On what small trifles hang a man's life in battle ! Not a soldier 
in the army but can recall some incident, some trivial event that 
kept the vital spark within his frame. A stumble, a step to the 
right or left, a mere turn of the head, the raising of a musket, a 
book in the pocket, a handkerchief, a button, such slight things 
save hundreds of lives, and what is harder to contemplate, lose 
them. A half inch here or there, the tenth part of an inch it may 
be, and lo ! the result is as widely different from what it might 
have been as time is from eternity. No wonder that so many sol- 
diers are fatalists. 

I was capping my gun in desperate haste to fire, when Frank 
Ballenger, gallant soldier he ever was, jumped directly in front 
of me and fired. At that very instant, before his finger could 
have left the trigger, a Yankee bullet, speeding invisibly through 
the air, bent on its deadly purpose of passing through my body, 
struck him, and he fell back into my arms nerveless and almost 
pulseless. I heard him cry out, and then came from his throat 
the horrible sound of the death rattle, which smote my ear for the 
first time. I placed my canteen to his lips. He tried to swallow, 
and then his glazing eyes showed that he was dead. Tearing 
open his jacket in frantic haste, I found that the bullet had struck 



250 JOHNNY REB AND BII^I^Y YANK 

him below the heart, passing clear through — the bullet meant for 
me. 

There was no time to indulge in feelings there ; it is only 
around the camp-fire that we can afford to do that. 

The brigade was scattered everywhere now. For an hour they 
had fired as fast as the cartridges could be rammed home. When 
the Union troops came up to retake the Chinn House, our men 
began to give ground. On came the Yankees in splendid style, 
with the Stars and Stripes waving and their line capitally dressed. 
It was a perfect advance, and some of us forgot to fire our 
muskets while watching them. In their front was a little drummer 
beating a pas de charge, the only time we ever heard the inspir- 
iting sound on the battle-field. The dauntless little fellow was 
handling his sticks lustily, too, for the roll of the drum was heard 
above the noise of the guns. 

It was high time to be leaving, we thought, and now our men 
were turning to fire one good shot before heeling it to the rear,, 
when right behind us there came with a rush and a vim a fresh 
Rebel brigade aiming straight for the Yankees. They ran over 
us and we joined their lines. Not a shot was fired by them in 
response to the fusilade of musketry that was raining lead all 
around. Every man with his head bent sideways and down, like 
people breasting a hailstorm, for soldiers always charge so, and the 
Gray and the Blue met with a mighty shock. A tremendous 
sheet of flame burst from our line; the weaker side went to the 
ground in a flash, and with a wild yell the Gray swept on toward 
the six-gun battery that had been sending forth a stream of death 
for the past hour. We could only see the flashes of light 
through the dense smoke. 

The line stopped a moment at the foot of the hill to allow itself 
to catch up. It was late in the evening and the battle was raging 
in all its deadliest fury. On our right, on our left, in the front, in 
the rear, from all directions came the warring sound of cannon 
and musketry. W^e could see nothing but smoke, breathe noth- 
ing except the fumes of burning powder, feel nothing save the 
earth jarred by the concussion of the guns, hear nothing but the 
dire, tremendous clamor and blare of sound swelling up into a 
vast volume of fire. How hot it was ! The clothes damp with 
perspiration, the canteens empty, throats parched with thirst, 
faces blackened by powder, the men mad with excitement. 

The left of the line came up and then some one asked: 

"Whose brigade is this?" 



the; second MANASSAS 25 I 

"Hood's," was the answer. ■, 

Then burst a ringing cry, "Forward, Texans !" 

The hne sprang like a tightly-bent bow suddenly loosened, and 
rushed up the hill in a wild, eager dash — a frenzied, maddening 
onset up the hill through the smoke, nearer and nearer to the guns. 

When about a hundred yards from them the dense veil lifted, 
floated upward and softly aside, and discovered to us that the 
battery had ceased firing. We could see the muzzles of the guns, 
their sullen black mouths pointing at us, and behind them the 
gunners, while from the center of the battery was a flag that lay 
drooping upon its staff. It was for a second only, like the rising 
of the curtain for a moment on a hideous tableau, only to be 
dropped as the eye took in the scene in all its horrors, yet it im- 
pressed itself, that vivid picture, brief as it was, upon mind, heart 
and brain. 

At once came a noise like a thunder shock, that seemed as if 
an earthquake had riven the place. The ground trembled with 
the concussion. The appalling sound was heard of iron grape- 
shot tearing its way through space and through bodies of bone, 
flesh and blood. 

Mercifully for us, but not intended by our foes, the guns were 
elevated too high, or it would have been simply annihilation ; for 
when those six guns poured their volley into the charging lines 
they were loaded to the muzzle with grape, and the distance was 
only about pistol shot. Of course the execution was fearful, and 
for a second the line was stupefied and nearly senseless from the 
blow. The ground was covered with victims and the screams of 
the wounded rose high above the din and were awful to hear. 

The advance was not stayed long. 

"Forward, boys! Don't stop now! Forward, Texans!" and 
with a cry from every throat the Southerners kept on. officers 
and men together without form or order, the swiftest runners 
ahead, the slowest behind, 'tis true, but struggling desperately to 
better their time. Up ! Still up ! until we reached the crest ! 
As the Yankees pulled the lanyards of the loaded pieces our men 
were among them. A terrific shock. A lane of dead in front. 
Those standing before the muzzles were blown to pieces like cap- 
tured Sepoy rebels. I had my hand on the wheel of one cannon 
just as it was fired, and I fell like one dead, from the concussion. 
There was a frenzied struggle in the semi-darkness around the 
gims, so violent and tempestuous, so mad and brain-reeling that to 



252 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

recall it is like fixing the memory of a horrible, blood-curdling 
dream. Every one was wild with uncontrollable delirium. 

Then the mists dissolved and the panting, gasping soldiers 
could see the picture as it was. The battery had been captured 
by the Texans, and every man at the pieces taken prisoner. 
Many were killed by a volley that we had poured into them when 
only a few paces distant, and a large proportion wounded. The 
few who escaped unhurt stood in a group, so blackened with pow- 
der that they ceased to look like white men. These soldiers had 
nobly worked their guns and had nothing to be ashamed of. All 
that men could do they had done. 

The voices of the officers now called the men to rally. The 
grass was blackened, indeed the very ground beneath our feet was 
burnt to a cinder and still smoking. From the top of the hill 
we could see dark masses of the enemy about a mile off, rushing 
to the front, while on the right and left the reek and fog of the 
field hid the combatants from view. 

Not a dozen of the Seventeenth could be seen in one place. 
They were scattered everywhere, mixed up and absorbed for the 
time in the reserves which ran over them. As for myself, I had 
the fight taken out of me by a bullet through the arm. It was 
but a flesh wound, but it hurt and prevented me from firing. 

In the valley below the Chinn House, where the dust was dense 
and blinding, the smoke heavy and stifling, it was hard for the 
brigade and the division to keep intact, and so the different or- 
ganizations were all mingled, but maintained no less a heavy and 
deadly fire on that account. Occasional glimpses of the enemy 
were discernible, and as the evening wore on it was discovered 
that they were giving ground. This yielding was only tem- 
porary, for about a half an hour before the sun went down their 
reserves were brought up, and then the fire increased in volume 
until the detonations were something to make one shudder. 

In the line with which we were, the men lay flat on their breasts, 
firing more accurately and coolly than could have been done stand- 
ing, delivering their pieces without calculation or aim. 

Just as the day was drawing to a close a mighty yell arose, a 
cry from twice ten thousand throats, as the Rebel reserves, fresh 
from the rear, rushed resistlessly to the front. Never did mortal 
eyes behold a grander sight ; not even when McDonald put his 
columns in motion at Wagram or Ney charged the Russian center 
at Borodino. 

It was an extended line, reaching as far as the eye could see. 



THE SECOND MANASSAS 253 

crescent in form, and composed of many thousand men. It was, 
in fact, a greater part of Longstreet's corps. The onset was 
thrilHng in the extreme, as the men swept grandly forward, the 
hittle battle-flags with the Southern cross in the center fluttering 
saucily and jauntily aloft, while the setting sun made of each bay- 
onet and musket-barrel a literal gleam of fire that ran along the 
chain of steel in a scintillating flame. As they swept over the 
plain they took up all the scattered fighting material, and noth- 
ing was left but the wounded which had sifted through, and the 
dead. 

Then ensued the death struggle, a last fearful grappling in 
mortal combat. The enemy threw forward all their reserves to 
meet the shock, and for a space of fifteen minutes the commotion 
was terrible. Bursts of soimd surpassed everything that was ever 
heard or could be conceived. The baleful flashes of the cannon, 
darting out against the dusky horizon, played on the surface of 
the evening clouds like sharp, vivid lightning. Long lines of 
musketry vomited through the plain their furious volleys of 
pestilential lead, sweeping scores of brave soldiers into the valley 
of the Shadow of Death. 

And now while a hundred thousand men were battling for 
supremacy, men gathered from ocean to ocean ; from Maine to 
San Francisco; from North to South, East to West; from every 
hamlet and town, from every mountain and plain ; while Ate and 
her attendant Furies stalked over the field, their swords reddened 
with the slaughter, the sun, as if glad to put an end to such fright- 
ful carnage, himself blood-red, sank below the top of a wooded 
hill. 

At last the enemy staggered, wavered, broke and fled in utter 
rout. Where Longstreet was dealing his heavy blows, they were 
throwing away their knapsacks and rushing madly for the rear. 
Only one final stand was made by a brigade in the woods close 
by; but as the long gray line closed in on each flank they threw 
down their arms and surrendered with but few exceptions ; those 
few, as they ran, turned and fired. 

On the hill, which had been occupied by the Washington Artil- 
lery of eighteen guns in the earlier part of the day, the eye took 
in a dim and fast-fading yet extended view of the whole sur- 
rounding country. A vast panorama stretched out on an open plain 
with patches of wood here and there on its surface, and with but 
two or three hills in the whole range of sight to break the ex- 
panded level. It was unutterably grand. Jackson could be seen 



254 JOHNNY REB and BILlyY YANK 

swinging" his left on his right as a pivot, and Lonsfstreet with his 
entire corps in the reverse method. The whole Yankee army was 
in retreat, and certainly nothing but darkness prevented it from be- 
coming WW affaire ffambee. 

The battle was over, and night mercifully covered a scene 
of slaughter having no parallel in song or story of the New 
World. The carnage had been appalling. Over four thousand 
lay cold and rigid on the bosom of Mother Earth. Fourteen 
thousand men of a common race and a common ancestry, 
speaking one language, having but one tradition, lay under the 
light of the stars disfigured and maimed, torn and bleeding. 

As the soldiers returned from the field, the day's work over, 
picking their way with care, the excitement died away and the reac- 
tion came. The cries and groans of this vast host of wounded were 
borne on the breeze from every side. And one who heard the tidal 
wave of agony as it swelled and surged toward heaven was fain to 
clasp his hands over his ears and shut out the torturing sound. 
Happy was he, among the writhing mass, whose agony was 
quenched in the Lethe of a mortal hurt. 

Show a soldier, not utterly hardened, when the excitement of 
battle is over, his own handiwork; tell him that his own finger 
had sped the missile that laid yonder man low, and ten to one he 
would recall the fatal act if he could. 

Some great thinker once wrote : 

''Give me the money that has been spent in war, and I will 
purchase every foot of land upon the globe. T will clothe every 
man, woman and child in an attire of which kings and queens 
might be proud. I would build a school-house on every hillside 
and in every valley on the whole earth. I would erect an 
academy in every town and endow it; a college in every State 
and fill it. I would crown every hill with a place of worship, 
consecrated to the promulgation of the Gospel of Peace. I 
would support in every pulpit an able preacher, so that on every 
Sabbath morning the chimes on one hill would answer the chimes 
on another, until the melody of the sweet, sounding bells would 
girdle the globe with its music, an invocation to heaven." 

This is a calculation of so much money ; suppose the moralizer 
had carried the computation a little further, for paltry consider- 
ations in the expenditures of war of dollars and cents are as nothing 
in the general summing up. 

Reckon up the killed, and you would have a mighty host. Col- 



the; SKCOND MANASSAS 255 

lect the tears that have been shed over soldiers slain in battle, 
and you would have an ocean. 

Mass the evil passions, the hate, the bitter, burning rancor and 
revenge that war has engendered, and you have a Gehenna. 

Yet men are born warriors and fight from instinct. All forces 
wage an unending war. From Chaos until now, between beak 
and spear; claw and tearing tooth; heel and horn; sting and 
tightening coil, has the invisible war been waging. 

In this battle the consumption of ammunition in the First Bri- 
gade was enormous. The soldiers literally fired away the last 
cartridge, making an average of sixty per man, or one hundred 
and eighty thousand ounces of lead sent Northward on its errand 
of deviltry. Many fired more ; I used up all of my allowance and 
filled my cartridge-box twice from the profuse supplies scat- 
tered on the field, and at the end of the battle I had ten left, mak- 
ing one hundred and thirty rounds fired. No wonder that my 
shoulder was black and blue, and that my face was so scorched 
and blackened by the burnt powder that my identity was hidden 
and my own comrades did not know me until I spoke. 

On this day our soldiers found out the worthlessness of the 
Minie musket, thousands of which lay abandoned on the field, 
be'cause after a score or two of shots the barrel would foul and the 
bullet could not be driven home. The ramrod was so slender as 
to possess little weight and it would get so greasy from the cart- 
ridge as to slip through the hands. The Enfield musket was by 
far the best arm the infantry ever had. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE WRECKAGl^ AFTI<;r THE) STORM. 

Tt was a pitch-dark night, with no hght but that of the stars, 
and a few of us who were trying to find the Seventeenth became 
lost on the field. Every now and then we fell or stumbled over 
a dead body; or worse still, some poor wounded fellow would 
moan so that it made the blood in our veins run cold, and filled us 
with dismay. My own wound proved to be a slight one after my 
friend John Addison had attended to it. We attempted to 
choose a path by striking one match "after another, but the sup- 
ply was soon exhausted, and then we came to a standstill. Look- 
ing around we could discern nothing but torches waving at far in- 
tervals about the field, flickering in the faint breeze that had 
sprung up with the coming of night, and which was borne to us 
tainted with the smell of blood. Starting onward my companion 
stumbled, and a horrified exclamation burst from his lips ; his 
Ijand had rested, he said, on only the half of a head, whose top 
had been carried away by a shell. So we wandered aimlessly 
about, tripping every few paces, until at last, to our great relief, we 
reached an elevation and saw a camp-fire burning not far away. 
Steering a straight course for its light we arrived upon the spot, 
and with a delight no words could express, found the Seventeenth, 
or rather what was left of it, for only sixteen men had kept to the 
colors throughout the day, as we afterwards learned, the balance 
having been scattered in every direction and swallowed up in 
other organizations. The remnant had lighted a fire with empty 
ammunition and cracker-boxes that were gathered on the field, 
and were making themselves as comfortable as circumstances 
would permit. No one knew the extent of the losses in the 
regiment ; indeed it had been as much as each one could do to 
keep the run of his own individual self. 

For the first time in a week we had a full and a good meal; 
coffee, sugar, beef, bacon and crackers. Ambulances and men 
of the improvised sanitary squads looking after the wounded 
passed and repassed our fire. Every minute some lost soldier 
would come up, attracted by the light, until there were in our 
vicinity several hundred belonging to a score or so of different 
commands. Each man had a captured haversack and blanket, 



THE WRECK AETER THE STORM 257 

for those we discarded that morning and left tinder guard we 
never expected to see again. 

That we had won a great victory every soldier knew, and the 
probabilities of a forward movement were freely discussed; all 
agreeing that the blunders of the first Manassas would not be re- 
peated now that Lee had supreme control of matters. Every 
man, too, with whom we talked spoke of the day's battle as the 
hardest and most stubbornly contested one that had ever taken 
place in Virginia. Not one but what had shot away his whole sup- 
ply of cartridges, and so far as we could learn, every soldier in 
Longstreet's Corps had fired every cartridge in his box as well 
as those in his haversack, making, as I said before, sixty rounds 
per man. The faces of all were smutty with burnt powder. 
Two-thirds had their clothes torn with bullets, and many were 
slightly wounded who made no trouble or fuss about it. 

The sky Sunday morning was one mass of gray, granite-like 
clouds, and it seemed as if Nature had clad herself in sad-colored 
robes to mourn for the slaughter of her sons, to end in the usual 
weeping that followed every battle. After a hurried breakfast 
the soldiers separated, looking for their several commands. For 
some hours the army was halted in the field to get the men 
together, reform the organizations and fill their scattered ranks. 

Lieut. -Colonel Herbert, now in command of the Seventeenth, 
with th^ colors and a small party of the original regiment were 
not far away, and formed a nucleus around which the absentees 
were rapidly collecting. 

Every soldier of the Seventeenth expressed deep-felt sorrow over 
the disaster that happened to our colonel. He was loved and ad- 
mired by the men; but more than all, trusted implicitly. 

We learned later that his leg was shattered above the knee and 
the limb amputated below the hip. thus ending forever his military 
career in the field. The Confederacy lost one of its most brilliant 
officers when he fell. 

Colonel Marye was of a highly nervous temperament, but in ac- 
tion he was the coolest man I ever saw. Nature molded and fash- 
ioned him for a soldier, and I have always thought that had this 
highly cultured, brainy soldier gone through the war unwounded 
lie would have surrendered his army corps and made a name second 
only to Lee and Jackson. 

The battle-field presented a horribly sickening sight. The 
wounded had all been taken care of, but the dead were resting 
, just as they fell. Here was one with both legs torn off by a solid 
17 



! 



25b JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

shot, the ground for many feet around sprinkled with the blood 
that jetted out in a stream from the severed arteries ; another 
had fallen on his knees and clasped his hands over his head, which 
had been fractured by a piece of shell — he was a frightful object, 
with the tongue protruding and the teeth clenched tightly upon 
it. An infantryman shot in the neck had unstrapped his knap- 
sack, unrolled his blanket, lain down and covered himself over 
and then had quietly breathed his last. What a methodical, sys- 
tematic person he must have been ; the ruling passion so strong 
in death, it spoke in so many words, "I did my life's work well, and 
now the summons comes, I wrap the drapery of my couch around 
me and lie down to pleasant dreams." 

Could a knife in the hands of an Indian have scalped a poor 
fellow more scientifically than did that bursting shell? And see 
here a man who had his two arms broken as if they had been 
stems. There lay five or six of our men, torn and mangled 
almost beyond recognition by one single shell that had burst so 
close to them that it did its fiendish work only too successfully. 

A group had gathered around one dead form, and were gazing 
down upon it with fixed interest, and yet sadly enough. We joined 
them and found it to be a lad scarcely more than fourteen years old, 
shot through the forehead. His uniform was new and most taste- 
fully made, doubtless to suit his boyish fancy ; the long hair seemed 
even then to be fresh from the toying touch and loving hands of 
mother or sister ; he was no soldier, one could see that ; most 
probably he lived in the neighborhood and had joined the line in 
the charge: he rested upon the earth as fair as the marble 
Hyacinth. 

"How anxious they must be at home about him," remarked 
some one near, as we stood looking down upon the slender 
figure. 

•'I can imagine how they watch and wait for him, and what 
would they say if they could see him now !" And the strong, rugged 
speaker, who had borne the brunt of a battle unmoved, drew the 
back of a rough hand over his eyes and passed on. 

The ground which we traversed was where the heaviest fighting 
had taken place in the earlier part of the action. The carnage 
had been fearful, and blue and gray lay closely mingled. Death 
had found these victims in various attitudes and stiffened them 
into stone, and his icy hands had frozen to marble his lips loved by 
households ; one was in the act of raising his gini to fire ; another 
was about to open his cartridge-box and died in the attempt; a 



I 



THE WRECK AFTER THE STORM 259 

third was retreating, and when struck was unloosening his knap- 
sack; and a fourth had sat down to tie his shoe, when the fatal 
ball had killed him instantly. 

The missiles had struck everywhere ; this man was shot in the 
mouth ; on that face a bursting shell had not left a single feature ; 
worse still, here is a head as completely severed from the body as 
if the guillotine had done it ; and there, the living, beating heart 
seemed to have been torn out all quivering and bleeding. 
Already the blackness of corruption had disfigured many faces 
and rendered immediate burial imperatively necessary. Here 
and there and everywhere were pools of clotted blood, as if blood 
were the cheapest and freest-flowing commodity on earth, 
showing where wounded and dying soldiers had lain. Scattered 
about on the ground, because the nerveless hands had no further 
use for them, were rifles, knapsacks, accoutrements, empty am- 
munition boxes, blankets, coats, and even swords. 

How soon the vain glory of war vanishes before the carnage of 
the field! how much of its poetic unreality dissolves into the stern, 
hard prose of the hospital ! how many of its undraped horrors are 
disclosed upon the after battle-ground ! 

Every dead body had been searched, every pocket was wrong 
side out, proving that the camp followers and robbers of the dead 
had completed their work. Every corpse, whether in blue or gray 
uniform, had been divested of its shoes and hat, and many even 
had their outer clothing removed. As several of our brigades 
passed we heard the troops curse fiercely the miserable pillagers 
who, like birds of prey, flocked to the battle-field after the action 
to accomplish their foul purposes. A true soldier rarely conde- 
scends to strip his fallen enemies ; he will take a pair of shoes or 
a hat if he needs them badly, but it must be from necessity and not 
from desire of gain. 

The brigade had a formal roll call by companies so as to re- 
port the losses to the Adjutant-General. A rather remarkable 
personnel answered to their names, and presented as its chief 
feature the charm of variety. Many of the men were slightly 
wounded, and had arms in slings or heads bound up. Adorn- 
ments in the way of fine hats, oflicers' long-tailed coats and caval- 
rymen's jack boots picked up on the field, were sported by their 
fortunate possessors with an air of supreme satisfaction and 
hardly concealed pride. This element was all the more notice- 
able, in that each man's next neighbor in the ranks was either 
hatless, coatless or shoeless, as the case might be; but all had 



260 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

blankets and full haversacks, confiscated on the battle-field with 
due honors of war. 

Our regimental losses were about seventy-five killed and 
wounded ; those of the brigade, between two and three hundred. 

Now that the list had been made out, the brigade took up its 
march. The farther we advanced the more evident became the 
fact that the enemy's retreat the night before had been almost a 
panic; knapsacks, guns, and all sorts of miscellaneous articles be- 
longing to the equipment of a soldier were scattered in the great- 
est confusion along the pike. Every soldier loaded himself down 
at first, but later on, as the contents of the knapsacks were ran- 
sacked, only the letters and daguerreotypes were taken out and 
handed around, the balance pitched away for the comfort and use 
of needy soldiers behind. Many a fair Northern girl could not 
have been otherwise than flattered at the praises her beauty 
elicited, albeit from Rebels, as her picture passed from hand to 
hand along the ranks. 

Continuing on our way we passed a beef which had been 
freshly slaughtered and skinned by our obliging enemy, who had 
left it as a slight token of their esteem, suriYiising how long it had 
been since we had so partaken ; to be sure, they had been in too 
great a hurry to eat it themselves, but that made not the slightest 
difference in the world, as our own men could stop just long 
enough to hack off a chunk before they hurried on. 

On our way we passed a small house on the roadside, from 
which the yellow flag was flying. It had been taken by the 
Yankees as a hospital and their surgeons were even then busy in 
their work. Evidences of the nature of their labor appeared be- 
fore us in a most ghastly, hideous form ; on a table running the 
length of one room all the amputating had been done, and the 
floor was slippery with the vital blood that ran out and dripped 
from every crack and crevice in one dire percolation ; as fast as 
the shattered limbs were severed from the trunk they were 
thrown out of the window, and there they lay in a heap five or six 
feet in height, a sickening collection of legs, arms and fingers of 
all sizes and lengths, Rebel and Yankee commingled. Never be- 
fore Avas seen a more shocking and tangible evidence of the cru- 
elty of this struggle — each amputated limb the exponent of a 
human being disabled and doomed to suffer so long as life might 
last. 

All in and around the yard lay the wounded, almost an acre of 
them, both of the blue and gray, while the surgeons of the North 



THE WRECK AFTER THE STORM 26 1 

and South, animated by a single noble purpose, moved among the 
crowd, with sleeves rolled up and arms covered with blood, doing 
all that human power could do to alleviate pain and to save life. 

Following the Sudley road the brigade crossed Bull Run at 
the ford and came to a halt, and rations for one day were issued, 
consisting of two crackers and a quarter of a pound of fat bacon, the 
last we were going to get for many a long day. 

Having halted, the order was read to the brigade congratulating 
them on the results of yesterday's battle. The old First had 
brought from the field five stands of captured colors. The bri- 
gade, consisting of the First, Seventeenth, Seventh, and Eleventh 
Virginia Regiments, eighteen hundred muskets strong, had cap- 
tured a battery of four pieces, spiked by the enemy, who had been 
unable to carry it off because nearly all the horses had been killed. 

Toward evening the rain, which had been pouring nearly all 
day, cleared up temporarily, and the brigade halted to pass the 
night. The soldiers smoked, read the captured letters, and 
talked and fought the battle over again until dark, when they 
tvn-ned in. It was so warm that but few fires were lighted. Prep- 
arations for sleep were made simply those nights ; the rationale 
was merely spreading the blanket on the ground, lying on it and 
rolling up in it tightly. The head was next reclined on a cart- 
ridge-box, and a hat put over the face, then off into Dreamland. 

To the student of military history Pope's campaign will be 
considered the most unique in the annals of war. Possessed as he 
was of an overwhelming belief in himself, boundless imagination 
and nervous aberration in action, he was the last man on earth to 
be intrusted with a supreme command. During the short two 
months as commanding general of the Army of the Potomac 
he issued more orders, gave more directions, and wrote more 
voluminous reports than did Grant in his four years of successful 
campaigning. It is difficult to conceive how he found time in 
that short period to write so much. His correspondence in the 
war records would make a respectable book. His orders to his 
subordinates were so profuse and contradictory that it is no 
wonder confusion prevailed, and in the great game of military 
chess he kept king, knight, bishop and pawn on the jump, without 
method, and played, as it were, from impulse. In the natural 
course of events his checkmate from such an adversary as Lee 
was certain to be quick and complete. 

Pope, of course, had his scapegoat. For many years Fitz John 
Porter had to bear all the opprobrium of Pope's complete fiasco. 



262 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

The Story of Pope's campaign can be told in a few words by 
extracts from his own reports. Beginning at his Orlando Fu- 
rioso proclamation in taking command of the army, his dispatches, 
in the light of cold reason, show his character to a dot. 

He wrote to Halleck regarding the Battle of Cedar Mountain 
(Reb. Records, Vol. 12, p. 12 and 133) : "On Thursday morn- 
ing the enemy crossed the Rapidan at Barnett's Ford in a heavy 
force. Brigadier-General Bayard with his cavalry fell slowly back, 
delaying the enemy's advance. General Banks was ordered to 
take position at Cedar Mountain with orders to hold the enemy 
in check until Sigel's corps arrived and had a good rest after their 
forced march. General Roberts reported to me that he had con- 
ferred freely with General Banks, and urgently represented to 
him my purposes, but that General Banks, contrary to my wishes, 
had left the strong position which he had taken up and had ad- 
vanced at least a mile to assault the enemy, believing that they were 
not in considerable force. His advance led him over the open 
ground that was everywhere swept by the fire of the enemy. The 
action lasted about an hour and a half and our forces suffered 
heavy loss and were gradually driven back." 

On August 23, 1862, he wrote to Major-General Sigel : "The 
Rappahannock River has, owing to the rain, risen six feet and is 
entirely impassable at any ford, the enemy (Jackson's corps) 
therefore, on this side, is cut ofT from those of the other. You 
will accordingly march at once upon Sulphur Springs and thence 
to Waterloo Bridge, attacking and beating the enemy wherever 
you find him. You will have an effective force of 25,000 men." 

To General Banks he sent the same instructions, and McDow- 
eirs corps was divided to support this movement. To all these 
corps commanders he ended by saying : "Be quick, for time is 
everything." On the same day (August 2^, 1862) in his dispatch 
to Halleck he writes : "The river has risen six feet, the enemy's 
forces (Stonewall Jackson's) on this side which have crossed at 
Sulphur Springs are cut off from those of the south side. I 
march at once with my whole force on Sulphur Springs and 
Waterloo Bridge, and hope to destroy these forces before the 
river runs down." On the next day he telegraphed to Halleck : 
"No force of the enemy has been able to recross the river, and 
are enclosed by our forces and will undoubtedly be captured." 

Wlien the whole of Pope's army closed in at Waterloo Bridge 
it was literally a water haul; neither wagon, gun, nor Rebel was to 
be seen, and all this pother, these manoeuvres, these masterly 



the: wreck after the storm 263 

concentrations of forces were false alarms. McDowell, who was 
in the advance, wrote to Pope under date of August 26 : "General 
Milroy burned the bridge at Waterloo before he left. What is 
the enemy's purpose, it is not easy to discover. Some have 
thought he means to march around our right through Rector- 
town to Washington ; others think that he intends going down 
the Shenandoah; others that it is his object to throw his trains 
around in the Valley to obtain supplies. It is also thought that a 
large portion of his army have retired to Culpeper army by the 
Sperryville road." General Mansfield wrote to Halleck about 
this time: "Stonewall Jackson has 125,000 men at least. He is 
fortifying between Louisa Court House and Gordonsville." (Reb. 
Records, Vol. 51, p. 742.) 

Pope answered McDowell by writing: "I believe the whole 
force of the enemy has marched for the Shenandoah Valley by 
the way of Luray and Front Royal." (Reb. Records, Vol. 12, p. 
67.) 

Now at the very time Pope was closing in to capture Jackson 
at Sulphur Springs, that ubiquitous Rebel was twenty miles in 
Pope's rear at Manassas Junction, where a vast depot of supplies 
for Pope's army was concentrated, and where the ragged, dust- 
begrimed Rebels were drinking champagne from tin cups and 
eating canned fruit from the sutlers' stores, preparatory to apply- 
ing the torch to Pope's reservoir of supplies. 

On the 26th of August Pope sent a dispatch to McDowell in 
which he says : "Fitz John Porter, with Sykes's and Morrell's divis- 
ions, will be within two and one-half miles of Warrenton to-mor- 
row night. I will use all of my efforts to have Sturges's and Cox's 
divisions within three miles of you to-morrow night, and have 
requested General Halleck to push forward Franklin's division 
at once. I think our fight should be made at Warrenton, and if you 
can postpone it for two days we will be all right." (Reb. Records, 
Vol. 10, p. 69.) 

On the evening of the same day he telegraphed to Washington : 
"Our communications have been interrupted by the enemy's cavalry 
at Manassas." 

On the next day, August 27th, he wrote to Major-General 
Kearny : "At the very earliest dawn move forward to Bristow 
Station with your whole command. Jackson, A. P. Hill and 
Ewell are in front of us. I want you to be here at day-dawn and 
we shall hag the zvhole crozi'd.'" 

At the same hour he wrote to McDowell : "March rapidly on 



264 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

to Manassas Junction. Jackson is between Gainesville and Man- 
assas Junction. If you march promptly we shall bag the whole 
crozvd." On the next day, August 28th, he wired McDowell : 
"You will move on to Gun Spring to intercept Jackson. I will 
push forward Reno and Heintzelman, unless there is a large force 
at Centerville, which I do not believe. Jackson has a large train 
which certainly should be captured." 

At 10 P. M, of the same day he notified Heintzelman: "Mc- 
Dowell has intercepted the retreat of the enemy. Sigel is im- 
mediately on his right, and I see no possibility of his escape." 

On the next day, August 29th, he telegraphed to Banks : "De- 
stroy the public property at Bristow, and fall back upon Center- 
ville at once." 

On the next day, or rather night of August 30, his dispatch 
to Halleck reads : "We had a terrific battle to-day. The enemy, 
largely reinforced, assaulted our position early to-day. We held 
our ground firmly until 6 P. M. when the enemy, massing with 
very heavy columns on our left, forced back that wing about a 
half a mile. At dark we held that position. The troops are of 
good heart and marched ofT the field without the least hurry or 
confusion. The enemy is badly crippled and we shall do well 
enough. Be easy, everything will go well." 

On the next day he wires Halleck: "I should like to know 
whether you feel secure about Washington. Should this army 
be destroyed, I shall fight it as long as a man will stand up to 
the work." 

After Pickett's disastrous charge at Gettysburg, Lee rode 
among his men, saying : "This failure is all my fault ; nobody is 
to blame except myself." Now see what Pope says. 

On the day after the battle his dispatch to Halleck reads : "One 
commander of a corps who was ordered to march from Manassas 
Junction to join me near Grovetown, although he was only five 
miles distant, failed to get up at all and worse still, fell back to 
Manassas without a fight. What makes matters worse there are 
officers in the Regular Army who hold back from either ignor- 
ance or fear. Their constant talk indulged in publicly is that 
the Army of the Potomac will not fight. When such example 
is set by officers of high rank, the influence must be very bad 
among those in subordinate stations. You have hardly an idea 
of the demoralization among officers of high rank in the Army 
of the Potomac, arising in all instances from personal feeling in 
relation to chano-es of commander-in-chief and others. These 



THE WRECK AFTER THE STORM 265 

men are mere tools and parasites, but their example is producing 
very disastrous results. I am endeavoring to do all I can and 
will most assuredly put them where they shall fight or run 
away." (Reb. Records, Vol. 12, p. 83.) 

If there is any greater insult offered the gallant men who bore 
aloft the standard of their country, by their commander-in-chief, 
it has never been recorded. 

The part that the Seventeenth Virginia took in this battle is 
briefly told by Colonel Corse, who at the Battle of Manassas was 
temporarily commanding the brigade. He says : 

"At 4.30 P. M. an aide brought me an order to move forward 
in support of Jenkins and Hunton ; I promptly obeyed and over- 
took the two brigades advancing, I at once put my command 
about 250 yards in rear of the advancing brigades, keeping my 
distance when moving forward, and then the whole line became 
engaged. At this time discovering a battery on the left and rear 
of the Chinn House, I ordered a charge of the whole line. The 
order was gallantly responded to and brilliantly executed, the 
enemy being driven from their guns. The Seventeenth, led by 
the ardent Colonel Morton Marye, advanced in perfect line. Just 
before reaching the guns Colonel Marye fell severely wounded. 
The charge on the guns was a success. The enemy's support 
was routed. 

"Samuel Coleman, of Company E, Seventeenth Virginia, in the 
hottest of the fight, wrested from the hands of the color-bearer 
of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers his regimental colors, 
and handed them to me. These colors I have already had the 
honor to forward to you. The loss to the Seventeenth Virginia 
is five officers wounded, four men killed and thirty-nine wounded." 
(Reb. Records, Vol. 12. p. 626.) 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

INTO MARYLAND. 

On Monday the march was continued toward Fairfax Court 
House; the rain that had held up during the night now came 
down in streams. We had eaten the last mouthful in the morn- 
i)ig; indeed, but for the contents of the captured haversacks there 
would have been nothing. Nearly all of that day we tramped in 
the mire of the roads, while a constant cannonading went on in 
our front. 

Late in the evening we found ourselves again at Chantilly, that 
stately old residence over which some of us had stood guard in 
the lovely autumn nights of '6i. 

Had not the rain poured in torrents, we would have arrived 
at an earlier hour, in time to participate in the sharp action which 
our van had had with Kearny's division. However, it made no 
difference, for our ammunition was soaking and we had not a 
gun in the division that would have gone off. 

Standing there in the summer rain we beheld the change that 
a few months had produced in the old place. The fences were 
levelled, the out-buildings had been torn down, the splendid 
forest of trees cut, every shade tree and even every fruit tree 
felled for fuel. As for the house, it was scarcely habitable ; the 
furniture had been smashed for kindling wood, the windows 
dashed to pieces with the butt end of muskets, the plastering had 
been knocked from the walls and the rooms so defaced and defiled 
that they discounted a hog-pen. On what was formerly the lawn 
lay many wounded and dead ; among others General Phil. 
Kearny, whose remains most of our soldiers viewed — the most 
brilliant, chivalrous, dashing officer in the Yankee Army. He was 
killed in a charge. He rode in the advance with his sword in the 
air and the bridle-rein held between his teeth, for he had lost his 
arm in the Mexican War. Had General Kearny lived he would 
probably have commanded the Federal Army. His body was sent 
by General Lee under a flag of truce to the enemy's lines. 

The two forces were but a little distance apart ; the one 
flushed with victory, the other sullen from defeat, and for the 
nonce equally limp, wet and miserable. But for the dash of the 



INTO MARYLAND 267 

rain, the sharp "Halt!" and challenge of the enemy's pickets 
could readily have been heard. 

It is said by fishermen who ought to know, that "eels at length 
not only get used to being skinned, but after a while take to it 
as a pleasure." On the same principle perhaps soldiers come to 
enjoy repose in a driving rain and being cradled in a mud-puddle ; 
be that as it may, their sleep was as sweet and sound as if they 
had lain on beds of down, while their frames were so inured to 
hardships and seasoned by exposure, that what would have 
threatened illness and death a year ago, now had become a mat- 
ter of the slightest moment. 

The waking the next morning was a stiff affair, not a bit 
of fun anywhere about it ; then it took so much time to straighten 
limbs and warm bodies that had been chilled through. To our 
great delight, though, the warm beams of the sun darted between 
the rifts in the clouds and dried the wet clothing; but even then 
the situation was deplorable. Some few had a ration left, which 
they ate quietly without attracting any attention, while haver- 
sacks of the majority were turned wrong side out and the very 
dust of defunct crackers scraped out and devoured. One man of 
an enterprising turn of mind carried his resources so far as to 
boil his greasy haversack for a soup, a soup purely of his own 
invention. He said "it filled him up, anyhow, and did away with 
the gonene-ss in his stomach." 

About noon the regimental sutler was on the spot, having fol- 
lowed the command with a steady persistence and faithful, un- 
tiring devotion worthy of a better cause. Animated by love of 
money, that "root of all evil," he had crossed battle-fields, forded 
runs and breasted storms to join us. A charge was made on his 
wagon by the starving soldiery ; some straddling the horses for 
a place of vantage, others standing on the wheels and struggling 
to get a first grab at the viands. Jonah, that was our sutler's 
name, was equal to any emergency, and like his illustrious name- 
sake, could not be kept down ; he had no conscience, or if he had 
he stretched it to any required distance, which was in his case tanta- 
mount to many miles. Like Chester, also, he charged, and obtained 
his price too ; having sold out his entire stock, which consisted en- 
tirely of edibles. Jonah, with an empty wagon, a full wallet (his was 
no credit business) and a light heart turned his horse's head rear- 
ward and disappeared through the shadows of the woods. 

Just as the wheels of the wagon were rumbling away in the 
distance a member of the Seventeenth made a piteous com- 



268 JOHNNY REB and BILlvY YANK 

plaint to a body of his comrades. He said that notwithstanding 
the high respect he entertained for every member of his valued 
regiment, who were all honorable men, yet one of their body cor- 
porate had so far forgotten his meums and tuums as to appro- 
priate an oilcloth that had been most serenely and unsuspiciously 
left drying on the bushes. He stated that he had gone through 
the brigade on the strength of an extemporized search-warrant, 
but without the faintest shadow of success; he assured us that 
he was without a blanket and would be in a woeful fix, for the 
ground was still damp and the nights cool ; he implored us if any 
of our number had seen his property walk away from the bush 
in spite of the eighth commandment, to reveal its hidden quarters 
and make him a friend for life. 

It is needless to say that no sign of the lost property was ever 
vouchsafed, so artfully were these constant thefts accomplished ; 
and so our soldier told us some time after that for a makeshift 
he had begged a newspaper, a copy of the New York World, and 
lain on that ; and inasmuch as it had kept the dampened earth 
from personal contact, it answered its purpose quite well. He as- 
serted that for two weeks he had had nothing to lie upon but 
that paper, which he would fold up as carefully every morning as a 
lawyer did his parchment or the beauty her curl papers ; but that 
on one occasion it had rained, and he held nothing in his hand 
but so much pulp. He told us with incipient tears in his eyes 
that he would always cherish a tender feeling for the Nezv York 
World so long as the bullets might spare him. 

But on the morning of the third of September all these triv- 
ialities of the camp, all these little incidents which made up camp 
life were merged into the interest of the march, when an army, 
no longer a mass of individual interests, became a unit to be 
thrown upon the foe ; a force inspired by one aim, moved by the 
will of one man, counted as so much man-power toward one end. 
The head of the column was turned northward, passing by Fry- 
ing Pan Church, which name was rather suggestive of some hot 
Gospel and a place that hath no seasons, like the tropics. 

Still no sign of our commissary wagons and not a mouthful of 
food had the men that day. Some of our best soldiers were left 
on account of sickness, and many began to straggle from ranks 
to seek in farm-houses along the route something to allay their 
gnawing hunger. Of course each one was a serious loss, for we 
never saw any of them until after the campaign. 

Keeping at a steady gait the column passed Guilford Station 



INTO MARYI.AND 269 

on the Loudoun and Hampshire Raih'oad, and then, turning, 
headed up the pike for Leesburg. All along the route the citi- 
zens testified their delight at our advance and brought food to the 
road, all that had been left them to give, and offered it to the 
hungry troops; through this kindness most of us obtained one 
meal that day, though some were not so fortunate, and could only 
look longingly back and curse the wagons. That night we camped 
near Drainesville. 

By six in the morning we were on the tramp again. Steadily, 
one by one, the strength of the army decreased as soldier after 
soldier, weak with hunger, dropped out of ranks and out of sight. 
The farm-houses all along the way we would find filled with sick 
and straggling men. 

There was a direful and shameful blunder somewhere about 
this time; here was the great Army of Northern Virginia, which 
after four months' fearful fighting and constant action, with ranks 
decimated by the casualities of battle and sickness (on its way 
as an army of invasion), and instead of being reinforced and its 
losses repaired, instead of strict discipline being maintained, in- 
stead of being properly fed, they were allowed to march day after 
day with no rations, while each soldier was suffered to leave 
ranks and roam at will all over the country. Then thousands 
were barefooted and obliged to fall behind because of their stone- 
bruises. Again, not a single article of clothing had been issued, 
and the men had not changed their shirts for two weeks; the cloth- 
ing left under guard on the battle-field of Bull Run was never re- 
turned. In fine, instead of having a thoroughly equipped army 
to invade the North, there were long lines of limping, starving' 
soldiery, streaming wearily on, as disheartened and miserable in 
feeling as they looked ; there was no elasticity or vim in the 
crowd. 

Napoleon, that master in the art of war, uttered the maxim 
that "an army only moves on its belly," and if our general officers 
were blind to the fact, the privates felt it; every soldier in the 
ranks saw the wretchedness and mismanagement of the situation 
and it had a very bad effect; it looked as if his Government had 
even ceased to care about keeping him alive by feeding him, and 
so, many lost heart and became embittered toward the ofificers. 

Two days of continued and steady tramping brought us to the 
little town of Leesburg, not far from the Potomac River. The 
commissary wagons had not arrived, and in those two days, as in 
the weeks passed, not a single ration had been issued. The most 



270 ij JOHNNY REB AND BILIyY YANK 

the officers could do was to bivouac their commands alongside 
the corn-fields on the route and let each one help himself. The 
amount of provender which a hungry soldier could get outside of 
under such circumstances would shame a dray horse and cause a 
tow-path mule to blush with envy ; some have been known to 
stow away sixteen ears of corn at a single meal, and they were 
not nubbins either. 

It may seem incredible, but it is true, that ow'ing to the failure 
of the Commissary-General to get his supplies up in time, Lee's 
army on the advance lived alone on green corn and apples — the 
only instance of a like nature upon record. Of course this diet 
was good for a change, yet on a long run, and this is not a figura- 
tive expression by any means, it did not yield much sustenance ; 
the men became thinner and weaker and the food caused chronic 
diarrhea and flux, which still further decimated the ranks and lost 
us several thousand men ; still with splendid bravery the army 
pressed onward. 

It was a goodly sight to watch the troops when they were 
halted for their evening meal — an apple orchard or a corn-field ; 
m the latter instance a hundred fires would be lighted and blaze 
up in the twinkling of an eye and soon the air was redolent with 
the odor of roasting ears ; then after thousands of jaws had been 
set in motion like so much complex machinery without stop, the 
ground around would be covered with cobs, a memento of the 
Army of Northern Virginia. The Spanish troops, it is said, were 
ever traced by the rank smell of garlic that flowed out from them on 
all sides into the purer atmosphere like a river and poisoned it for 
miles around. So any keen-scented Yankee might readily have 
traced our winding way by snuffing in the breeze the palatable 
aroma of the roasting corn. 

Leaving Leesburg after a brief halt, long enough indeed to 
bring around us every old man, woman and child in the place, for 
a portion of the Seventeenth hailed from the town, the command 
struck for the fords, bivouacking for the night ere we reached 
them ; but almost before the stars were out of the skies the march 
was taken up again. 

Every hundred yards or so some soldier would drop unques- 
tioned from the ranks ; indeed, such had become the condition of 
their feet from walking over those rocky roads, that many who 
had been barefooted all along were obliged to fall behind ; and 
this they did by dozens. To a casual observer the army seemed 
to be going to pieces ; to such an extent was straggling carried 



INTO MARYLAND 2/1 

on that it looked more like the retreat of a demoralized legion 
than a body of troops flushed with success and advancing to con- 
quest. 

In the middle of the day, September 6, 1862, as the blue waters 
of the Potomac, gleaming in the sunlight through intervening 
trees, met the eyes of the soldiery, a rolling cheer rang along the 
lines, was caught up by the brigades behind, and we could hear 
it faintly sounding in the rear and at last dying away in the dis- 
tance. 

The soft autumn sunshine danced on the rippling waters and 
lit up the emerald sheen of the banks beyond. Here at last was 
our Promised Land with its broad fields of waving grain, its 
barns full to bursting, its orchards bending low with fruit, and 
to our longing eyes looking as fair as the goodly land of Canaan 
to the prophet's wistful gaze ; its farm-houses, settled into the 
landscape cozily, here and there dotted the scene with all the in- 
terest of home life, and gave it soul as it were. It was a lovely 
picture and the eyes of the famished soldiers lighted up as they 
gazed. A few fleecy clouds alone broke the limpid blue ; a light 
breeze murmured among the leaves, while the birds, singing on 
the boughs, carolled their sweetest songs to the undertone of 
distant cannonading. To my mind the most exquisite verse ever 
inspired by the war was written by Randall, the Southern poet, 
in describing this advance into Maryland, and the gathering of 
the Union Hosts : 

"From blue Patapsco's billowy dash 
The Yankee war shout comes, 
Along with cymbals' fitful clash 
And the growl of his sullen drums." 

Preparations were made for crossing at once. The river was 
about a hundred yards wide, but owing to the fine dry weather of 
the last few days the water had subsided to its lowest mark, ren- 
dering the stream easily fordable to the infantry. But if the tide 
was low, the current was strong and swift, as we found to our cost. 

The men were not long in getting ready for their wade, each 
consulting his own individual conscience ; some took oft' the last 
rag, and making bundles of their clothes stuck them on the top 
of bayonets and plunged into the eddying tide ; others again were 
satisfied with denuding only their lower half, while the reckless, 
don't-care set crossed as they were, and then stretched them- 
selves on the opposite bank to dry; but the majority waded, 
wearing their one abbreviated garment. 



2/2 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

It was a genial, joyous, side-splitting evolution, that crossing 
over. The gravest man in America sitting on that shore watch- 
ing the proceedings would have laughed until the tears rolled 
down his saturnine face; old Henry I, "who never smiled again," 
would have caught himself in a grin before he knew it; the very 
fishes opened their broad mouths, and the rooks cawed till they 
were hoarse, and the mules gave prolonged snorts of infinite sat- 
isfaction. The bottom of the river was one mass of rock, worn 
to the slipperiness and smoothness of polished ice or glass, upon 
which it was impossible to maintain a sure footing, no matter how 
carefully one might pick his way, consequently the soldiers were 
slipping and falling in every direction. 

Here would be a great giant of a fellow whose ribs, through a 
long course of starvation, were as plain as the bars of a gridiron 
and as distinct in the sunlight as the rails of a plank fence, with 
his pack in shreds and tatters on the end of his gun, treading 
cautiously on a treacherous rock — down he goes head foremost, 
like a sportive dolphin, and disappears from sight; a few bubbles 
rise to the surface and dance down the stream, then he himself 
emerges, mad enough to kill somebody, the water pouring from 
his gun-barrel and the bundle containing all his worldly pos- 
sessions gliding along on the surface of the river, bent on seeking 
unknown lands. 

There goes a short, stumpy fellow, walking on his toes, the 
water up to his neck, his eyes looking volumes, while with hands 
high up above he holds his gun and clothes like an "Excelsior" 
banner and vanishes ; then we see him strike valiantly for shore, 
his musket gone but his bundle safe. Here are a dozen soldiers 
who, as a precautionary measure, have joined hands and are mak- 
ing their way across carefully. One steps into a deep hole and 
clings tightly to his comrade, who holds with a dying clutch to 
the next man, and down they all go like a row of tottering ten-pins. 

Once across, we are all on the qui vive to watch the camp 
darky who brings up the rear on his mule. Warily, watchfully, 
as if treading on so many eggs, he makes the endeavor to pass 
over, cheered or jibed, as the case might be, without stint or 
mercy. But that old darky was used to the soldier's ways and 
did not mind them ; his mule was an ancient animal which, having 
been turned out to die by some wagon-master, had been caught 
by this Uncle Ebony, patched up and fed on stolen grain until 
strong enough to follow at a slow pace in the wake of the regi- 
ment with his master on his back ; the mule was almost hidden 



INTO MARYLAND 2/3 

from view by the pots and kettles which adorned him Hke the 
beads and medals on an Indian princess, and which disclosed 
his rank. Uncle Ebe spurred his steed to the river's edge, but 
"Israel," the mule, pointed his ears and stuck his feet down; then 
he opened his mouth and entered a protest in a voice that was 
heard a mile along the shore. 

"Don't let that old 'Ancient Mariner' stop!" shouted a soldier. 

"Whip him across, old man!" 

"Hurry up. Uncle," vouchsafed another on the opposite side, 
"we want our skillets over here; send him along." 

"The old cuss always did need a baptizing," added a third. "Run 
him in the water and make a good Baptist out of him," 

But Israel had an opinion of his own and cherished it ; and 
not until the wagons came along and the drivers lashed their 
cruel whips into the flanks of the opposition, did he consent to 
change his mind. In they went, mule and rider, and of course the 
result was what every one expected, 

Down they plunged, and we caught a glimpse of first a woolly 
head and then heels of mule and man inextricably mingled ; the 
heads had it, there was a rattling of pans, and finally when they 
managed to come to the surface it was hard to tell which of the 
two was the more frightened ; the eyes of the sable rider rolled 
around like milk-white moons in an inky sky, and his teeth chat- 
tered like castinets ; amid a roar of laughter they made for the 
slope, our venerable servitor saying as he climbed the bank : 

"Dis here nigger's nebber gwine to cross dat ribber any mo', 
you hear me? Let dem Yankees cotch me forst." 

Then with a grunt of satisfaction, "Dis chile an' dis ole boss 
an dis ole pan got a good washin' sho." 

But there were many disgusted people other than Uncle 
Ebony, nearly all of whom had been deprived of property, hence 
the air was full of lamentation. 

One soldier was heard to remark as he made his inventory, 
"Confound it all, I don't mind losing my gun nor my shoes, but 
1 hate to lose that 'ere haversack chock-full of good bread and 
meat that I begged this morning from an old woman who lives 
over thar by the mill." 

As soon as the soldiers had crossed, they immediately fired 
their muskets, fearing the charge had become wet. and for a few 
minutes it sounded like a heavy picket fight. 

An order was issued that men without shoes could remain in 
t8 



274 JOHNNY REB AND BILI^Y YANK 

Virginia and not accompany the army in advance. This idiotic 
proclamation cost us ten thousand men. Of course many took 
advantage of this, and many threw away their shoes so as to re- 
main behind, while hundreds of muskets were withdrawn from our 
already depleted brigade. From first one cause and then another, 
the regiments, brigades and divisions had dwindled into one-half 
of the strength which they carried to Manassas. 

No sooner had our feet struck the loyal soil of Maryland than 
an order was read from General Lee, prohibiting any trespass 
upon public property; of course corn-fields and fruit trees were 
not included in this category. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE CAMPAIGN OUTUNED. 

As soon as General Lee decided to invade the North he sent 
word to D. H. Hill and McLaws, who were in Richmond, to re- 
join the army with their divisions without delay. 

General Lee in his vast plan looking to an offensive campaign 
in the North, and with the avowed purpose of transferring the 
seat of war into a rich region where the army could get ample 
supplies, made brilliant tactical combinations, which had they 
been carried out would have materially changed the character of 
the contest. His plan of operations was to capture Harper's 
Ferry with its garrison of eleven thousand men ; then mass his 
army and deliver battle to McClellan. With this view he directed 
Jackson to take his own two divisions, and those of Anderson 
and McLaws, and proceeded to carry out the first steps of this plan. 
Longstreet's two divisions under Jones and Hood, and D. H. 
Hill's division were to remain and hold the enemy in check while 
Jackson was performing his part. 

"It was the custom," says Colonel Walter Taylor, General 
Lee's Adjutant-General, "for the Commander-in-Chief to send 
orders marked 'Confidential' to the commanders of separate corps 
or divisions only ; and to place the addresses of such separate 
commander on the bottom left-hand corner of the sheet contain- 
ing the order. General D. H. Hill was in command of a division, 
and a copy of army movements was of course sent to him. It 
seems that through the carelessness of some one, this order of 
Lee's divulging the plan of movements was negligently and heed- 
lessly thrown aside and picked up by the enemy. The result was 
that Lee's combinations not only miscarried but the army came 
near being destroyed.* 

Lee was caught in a bad trap, with his forces divided into two 
parts and separated by miles from each other. Of course the 
Federal general determined to strike at once. 

Notwithstanding the unfortunate circumstance, the stubborn 
defense of Boonsboro or South Mountain Pass by Longstreet and 

* "Upon learning the contents of this order, I at once gave orders for a 
vigorous pursuit." — General McClellan's testimony. Report on the Conduct of the 
War, Part i, page 440. 



276 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

Hill, and especially by the wonderful celerity of Jackson in captur- 
ing Harper's Ferry, including the gallant resistance made by Mc- 
Laws's division at Crampton's Gap against the whole of Franklin's 
corps, General Lee was enabled to unite his forces in time to g'ive 
battle at Sharpsburg. 

Longstreet and D. H. Hill in resisting the attacks of the bulk 
of McClellan's army had suffered very heavily ; Jackson, too, 
having been compelled to hasten by forced marches from Har- 
per's Ferry to Sharpsburg, his route was strewn with foot-sore, 
broken-down and disabled soldiers, so that when he reached the 
battle-field he had only skeleton regiments, which in many cases 
were not as large as a full company. 

On the morning of the seventeenth of September both com- 
batants, the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia, met face to face once more. Lee's entire force amounted to 
thirty-five thousand two hundred and fifty-five men. (Adjutant- 
General Taylor's book, "Four Years With General Lee," page yi,.) 

General McClellan in his Official Report states that he had at 
Sharpsburg eighty-seven thousand one hundred and sixty-four 
men all told. (Extract from General McClellan's report, "The Con- 
flict," page 209.) 

Those were fearful odds, more than tzvo to one! but they were 
the flower of Lee's army who were to breast the fury of the on- 
set — the bravest, the very staunchest of the whole South. It was 
the Army of Northern Virginia eliminated and purified of all the 
delicate and broken-down, the sick as \\e\\ as the cowards and 
skulkers ; it was an army of veterans, every soul of them undaunted 
and every musket true. 

They were, as Colonel Taylor says, manoeuvred and shifted 
about from place to place, as first one point and then another 
was assailed with greatest impetuosity and force. The right was 
called to the rescue of the left ; the center was reduced to a mere 
sliell in responding to the demands for assistance from the right 
and left, while A. P. Hill's command, the last to arrive from 
the Ferry, reached the field just in time to restore the wavering 
right. 

Just at this point was our danger, for Antietam Creek was held 
only by four hundred men all told, being the skeleton Georgian 
brigade of General Toombs, when confronted by General Burnside's 
corps, consisting of ten thousand seven hundred and four men. 
(Swinton's Campaign of the Army of the Potomac, page 220.) 

Burnside's attacks, from some cause, did not take place until 



the; campaign outlined 277 

one o'clock, and having brushed aside the small force that stood 
in his way, he allowed over two hours of precious time to pass 
before he attacked the crest of the hill held by Kemper's small 
brigade of three hundred and twenty-five muskets. Had he 
promptly carried the hill, the Rebel right would have been 
turned and he could have struck the whole line on the flank and 
rear. As it was, it was not until three o'clock in the afternoon 
that he stormed the summit and literally rushed over the frail 
line opposed to him. 

But success came too late; for the division of A. P. Hill, 
which Jackson had left behind to secure the surrender of Har- 
per's Ferry, had reached the field from that place by way of Shep- 
herdstown after a forced march of seventeen miles, and uniting 
his reinforcements with the two brigades of Kemper and Toombs 
that had been broken by the attack, he drove Burnside back over all 
the ground gained, to the shelter of the bluff bordering Antietam.* 

When darkness put a stop to the conflict it found both armies 
utterly exhausted as well as suffering terribly from the loss of 
blood and of life. It had been the most stoutly contested action 
of the war, and was emphatically a drawn battle. Some successes 
had been gained on both sides during the day, but at night the 
Rebel and Yankee hosts occupied practically the same ground 
that they had held in the morning. 

The casualties were exceedingly heavy on both sides ; the Fed- 
eral loss at Sharpsburg, killed and wounded, was twelve thousand 
fve hundred men, the Rebel loss eight thousand. (Official returns 
from the Adjutant-General's Office, "United States Army Reports 
on the Conduct of the War," Part II, page 492.) 

The morning of the eighteenth was passed in rest by both 
armies. McClellan determined to renew the battle on the nine- 
teenth, when he expected reinforcements should have arrived 
from Washington. But during the night Lee withdrew across 
the Potomac and in the morning stood once again on the Vir- 
ginia side. 

A force of several thousand men, a part of Porter's corps, was 
thrown across on the nineteenth to follow up Lee and harass 
his rear-guard under A. P. Hill, who had but two thousand mus- 
kets. Hill says in his report : "A simultaneous and daring charge 

* "The three brigades of my division did not number over two thousand men, 
and these, with the help of my splendid batteries, drove back Burnside's corps 
of ten thousand men." — Hill's report of the "Army of Northern Virginia," 
page 129. 



278 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

was made and the enemy driven pell-mell into the river. Then 
commenced a more terrible slaughter than the war has yet wit- 
nessed. The broad Potomac was blue with the floating bodies of 
the foe. Few escaped. By their own account they lost three 
thousand men killed and drowned ; from our brigade alone some 
two hundred prisoners were taken." (A. P. Hill's Report on the 
Campaign in Maryland.) 

So ended the invasion of Maryland. Leaving several thousand 
men behind cold in death, our army returned to its old quarters. 
The moral effect was unquestionably on the" side of the enemy, 
for with them rested the prestige of driving us back. 

Returning to the army which had just crossed the Potomac, 
we find that in an hour's time it was continuing its march through 
the rich fields of Maryland; a fair, fruitful country, smiling in 
peace and plenty, which seemed to our eyes, so long resting upon 
deserted fields and briery meadows in Virginia, as being scenes 
of purely idyllic rustic life, where the injunction of the priest of 
Ceres's temple, "Marry the vine with the palm," had been obe^^ed. 

The country people lined the roads, gazing in open-eyed 
wonder upon the long lines of infantry that filled the road for 
miles ; as far as the eye could reach rose the glitter of the sway- 
ing points of the bayonets. These were the first Rebels those 
Marylanders had ever seen, and though our rags could not have 
been prepossessing, we were treated as neither friend nor foe ; 
yet they gave liberally ; every haversack was soon filled, for that 
day at least. No houses were entered by our soldiers and no 
damage was done, evidently to the great relief of the farmers in 
the vicinity, who soon found how perfectly safe their property 
could be in the very midst of an invading army. 

On the tenth the Seventeenth defiled through the long streets 
of Frederick City, our reception being decidedly cool. Of 
course we were disappointed ; it was not what we had expected. 
True, the streets were generally filled with citizens, as v/ell as the 
balconies and porches ; but there was no enthusiasm ; we heard 
no cheers and saw no waving handkerchiefs ; instead we were 
greeted with a deathlike silence that could be felt, while some 
houses were tightly closed as if some great public calamity had 
befallen the people. Friendly faces were at windows and doors, 
whose smiles would have been a little less covert had there not 
existed such evident fear of showing any manifestation of favor 
toward us. 

The marching soldiery did not attempt to imitate the can- 



THE CAMPAIGN OUTLINED 279 

tJous silence of the Frederick civilians, but with full haversacks 
and light hearts they joked and appeared to have a good time. 
Witticisms and badinage flew from lip to lip, some even raising a 
song, the air being caught up by the brigade, and in such manner we 
passed through that most loyal city in Maryland. 

Confederate currency suddenly rose in value. Orders had 
been issued that the store-keepers in the town should keep open 

their shops and sell goods for the "d Rebel issue," as one of 

them named our Confederate "Promise-to-pay." It would only 
take an hour or two to riddle a store completely; not a thing 
left behind but empty shelves and a supply of notes, enough to 
paper the walls. Some of the merchants put the money care- 
fully away, to redeem it if by the chances of war it should event- 
ually be of any value. 

Another day's march brought us to Hagerstown, where the 
corn-fields and orchards furnished our meals. The situation of 
our army from a sanitary point of view could not have been 
worse. The ambulances were filled with the sick and footsore, 
and the country lined with stragglers. 

The fastidious may skip the following : 

Among the shadows of the soldier's life the twin evils of ver- 
min and the camp itch were most serious and distressing; they 
followed Johnny Reb persistently, refused to leave him, resisted 
every effort of force, opposed every attempt at compromise, and 
waged war of extermination with him as fierce in its way, as re- 
sistless in its combined resources, as Johnny Reb's upon them, and 
that, too, until the gray uniform was doffed for the citizen's suit, 
when they disappeared with the garb they had loved so well, and 
vanished with it out of mind. 

Those insects, which in camp parlance were termed "gray- 
backs," first made their appearance in the winter of sixty-one. 
At first the soldier was mortified and almost felt disgraced when 
he discovered the van-guard of the coming crowd upon his per- 
son. Their crawling made his flesh creep ; their attacks in- 
flamed his blood and skin. He made energetic efforts to hide 
the secret and eliminate the cause ; he would quietly and with 
an abstracted air most artfully withdraw from the company of his 
comrades, and then with considerable alacrity, but with as much 
secretiveness as though he were going to commit some fearful 
crime, steal out into the woods. Once hidden from the eyes of 
men he lost no time in pursuing and murdering with a vengeful 
pleasure the lively descendants of Egypt's third plague, flatter- 



280 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

ing himself the while, poor soul, that he would then have peace 
and comfort of mind and body, and be able to hold his head up 
once more before his fellows. On his stealthy way back he would 
be sure to run in on a dozen solitary individuals, who did their 
best to look unconcerned, as if indeed they were in the habit of 
retiring into the dim recesses of the forest for meditation and 
self-communion. 

The satisfaction so gained did not last long; in a day or two 
his body would be infested again ; and then by this time rendered 
desperate he would try every expedient, but all to no purpose; 
it was simply impossible to exterminate them. The men would 
boil their clothes for hours in a hissing, bubbling cauldron, dry 
and put them on, and the next day the confounded things would 
be at work as actively and enthusiastically as ever. Even at Fort 
Warren, where underclothing had been so plentiful that each 
man had an entire change for every day in the week, it was 
found that these pests skirmished around as usual, though where 
they came from or how they arrived were mysteries we never 
solved. 

The "salamander grayback" had more lives than a cat, and propa- 
gated its species more rapidly than a roe-herring ; its progeny 
never died in infancy, and were sprightly from the incubation. 

Once lodged in the seams of clothing, there they remained till 
time mouldered the garments. You might scald, scour, scrub, 
clean, rub, purify, or bury the raiment under ground, and you 
only had your trouble for your pains ; they only seemed to enjoy 
it and multiplied under the process. 

On the march particularly, when for weeks the troops had had 
no clean clothes, the soldiers were literally infested. Many 
would place their underclothing, during the night, on the bottom 
of some stream and put a large stone upon them to keep them 
down, hastily drying them in the morning for the day's wear. 
In such manner a temporary relief would be gained. Every 
evening in Maryland, when the army had halted and bivouacked 
for the night, hundreds of soldiers might be seen sitting half 
denuded on the road-side or in the fields, busily engaged in a re- 
lentless slaughter of the vermin. This daily expulsion and exe- 
cution was a habit just as needful, and as regularly indulged in, as 
washing the face and hands ; without the daily destruction of a 
hundred per man (and this was no unusual quota) life would 
have become a burden too heavy to bear. 

In our march along the turnpike every ear of corn and every 



THE CAMPAIGN OUTLINED 28 1 

green or ripe apple in the bordering fields fared no better than 
they did in Virginia ; the soldiers made a specialty of cooking them 
as a variety, after a la raw ; roasting, boiling or mixing them both 
together in a kind of soup, which was very nice and savory, but 
longing all the while for the old bread diet. 

The conduct of the citizens of Hagerstown toward us con- 
trasted strongly with that of Frederick City, for not only were 
the men and women outspoken in their sympathy for the South- 
ern cause, but they threw wide their hospitable doors and filled 
their houses w^ith soldiers, feeding the hungry and clothing the 
naked to the utmost extent of their ability. We saw a citizen of 
that place take the shoes off his feet in the streets and give them 
to a limping, barefooted soldier. 

On the morrow, instead of advancing northward, the order 
came to right about face and march back on the same road upon 
which we had advanced the evening before : so the brigade re- 
traced its steps, and about four o'clock that evening, on the four- 
teenth, took position in a corn-field on a sloping hill. A savage 
attack was made on our left to break the line, but was repulsed. 
Though the musketry firing and the cannonading was for a short 
time severe, no determined infantry charge was made upon our 
brigade ; several batteries shelled us, and a feeble attack was un- 
dertaken, which was, however, easily checked, for the regiment 
Avas in place behind a fence ; altogether our loss did not amount 
^o more than half a dozen wounded, among them that gallant 
soldier Lieutenant Arthur Kell, of Company H, who was badly 
liurt in the head by a piece of shell. 

In the early dawn of the fifteenth the brigade marched 
toward Sharpsburg. Squads from the different companies ob- 
tained permission to forage for themselves and comrades. Being 
the only private left in my company, I joined two expert for- 
agers of Company H ; leaving the road and striking across the 
fields we soon came to a handsome brick residence about three 
miles from Sharpsburg, standing in the center of well-kept 
grounds ; we knocked at the door, but after waiting a while and 
getting no response we entered ; to our great astonishment we 
found the place deserted, the inmates doubtless having been 
frightened away by the firing at Boonsboro a few hours before. 
Not an article had been carried oft' that we could see ; the parlor 
door stood open, the piano lid was raised, the pictures were 
hanging upon the wall, and the curtains were looped gracefully, 
as if some dainty touch had just arranged them. We entered the 



282 JOHNNY REB and BILLY YANK 

dining-room ; there sat the cat on the window-sill ; indeed, the 
home-life had been so recent within the house that it was diffi- 
cult to realize that our hostess's step would not at any moment 
sound upon the stairs and her voice be heard in greeting. 

We had no time to linger, the warning notes of the cannon 
reverberating in our ears while we were in search of something 
to eat. The cupboard, like that of an ancient miser, was empty; 
so was the kitchen, hence we went to the spring and filled our 
canteens with ice-cold water, glad to get that if nothing more 
substantial. But a dairy nestled at the foot of the hill, and on 
repairing there we found that some agency had placed at the 
door several buckets and cans of milk, over which the rich, yel- 
low cream had already risen. We of course substituted the 
milk for the water in the canteens ; then we noticed there was a 
loft over the dairy, and climbing up to pursue investigations we 
found it a perfect store-room ; several barrels, among other 
things, were upon stands, the contents of which on nearer ac- 
quaintance proving to be cider, at once the canteens were emptied 
of the milk and filled with the juice of the apple ; then an excla- 
mation from one of the party brought us in a group around a 
barrel of apple-brandy. Of course out went the cider and in 
gurgled the brandy ; not to be changed for anything, no, not even 
Jupiter's nectar. 

Here ensued an animated discussion ; the whole squad, except- 
ing the sergeant, wanted to roll the barrel to camp and leave 
everything else behind ; but then came the difficulty about obey- 
ing orders ; the dispute waxed high, so to end the matter the ser- 
geant stove in the head of the barrel with the butt of his musket, 
and the precious liquid, that would have made glad, for a time at 
least, the whole brigade, poured in a useless stream upon the floor. 

In the room were a half dozen tubs of applebutter, which we 
confiscated for the use of our comrades ; then we started in the 
direction of the burnished steel that flashed in the sunlight 
before eyes like beacon lights to the mariner. Marching on as 
hurriedly as we could, our squad soon overtook the brigade. 

Long and lovingly were many lips glued to the mouths of 
those canteens, and honestly the owner's health was drunk, not 
asking or even caring whether he was friend or foe; only Colonel 
Corse blessed us as he took a long, lover-like kiss from the mouth 
of my canteen. I intended saving some in case I was wounded 
in the coming battle, but when the vessel was returned to me 
there was not a drop left. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE battle; of sharpsburg. 

The order was given to ''Fall in" and our skeleton brigade 
took up their position on top of a high hill behind a post-and- 
rail fence. The storm so long gathering was about to burst, 
but the men having become callous and indifferent from ex- 
treme hunger, thought only that in case of a victory they would 
find plenty of the enemy's haversacks to satisfy the cravings of 
their empty stomachs. 

As the Virginians with drawn faces sat in ranks, with eyes 
blind to the beauty of the scene which looked its richest m its 
autumn robing, and its sweetest in the morning freshness, 
they, hungry souls, had no other meditations, no other sentiments 
save those over their empty haversacks, the banquet halls deserted, 
and their "aching void," which nothing earthly filled. 

Just about this time a cow, — a foolish, innocent, confiding cow, — 
with a pathetic look in her big eyes and all unknowing of soldiers' 
ways, came grazing up to the line; a dozen bullets went crash- 
ing through her skull before she knew what hurt her, and a score 
of knives were soon at work ; in an incredibly short time, more 
quickly than a rabbit could be skinned, the hide of the cow was 
taken off, and a ravenous pack of wolves could not sooner have 
laid bare the bones than did our hungry brigade. Everything 
v;as eaten, even the tail, which but a short hour ago had been 
calmly and quietly switching flies from her back. 

There were no available cooking utensils in the whole regi- 
ment save those which the old darky carried for the benefit of 
the officers for whom he cooked ; and those we had no more 
chance of using than if they had been the Queen's. Our kitchen 
apparatus consisted of a tin plate and a large tin cup holding 
about a quart, which cup was carried by each private, fastened 
to the left shoulder with a small strap sewed on the jacket for 
that purpose ; by means of these we could accomplish most sat- 
isfactorily all the cooking we required in the way of boiling, fry- 
ing and stewing, but neither plate nor cup answered as where- 
withal to cook the beef, and, as has l^een stated, skillet or pot or 
frying-pans there were none. 

The soldier is an inventive genius, or twin brother to it, inas- 



284 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

much as Necessity is the mother of both ; and at this important 
period of action he was not to be balked of his meal because 
there happened to be no double-acting, patented, warranted- 
never-to-wear-out, self-regulating, non-fuel-consuming range 
nor a French chef on hand. Perish the thought ! No. He hunted 
around and found flat stones lying all about in profusion ; these 
he heated hissing hot and broiled the beef upon them. 

Now to give one more instance of the soldier's unfailing in- 
genuity, which by long practice and much thought had become 
a science. 

There lived not far from Gordonsville a widow who was noted 
for her niggardliness and extreme parsimony ; so stingy and 
mean was she that a placard was nailed on her gate, under her 
own direction, with the inscription : 

"No soldier fed or housed here." 

The best foragers of the brigade met their match in the old 
woman, and returned defeated from the field ; at last she was 
left in undisturbed possession of the place, and no hungry sol- 
diers were ever fed at her table. 

But one day a famished-looking, lank, angular specimen of the 
genus Reb ap^^eared at her farm-house and knocked at her door. 

When the animated figure of War and Famine combined 
stalked into her yard, the old lady was speechless with wrath ; 
she opened the door, prepared for immediate hostilities, but the 
sad-faced defender of the soil was asking in a humble voice and 
with a deprecatory manner : 

''Please, marm, lend me your iron pot." 

"Man, I have no iron pot for you!" This was snappily jerked 
out, while an evident determination was shown to shut the door 
in his face. 

"Please, marm, I won't hurt it," 

"You do not suppose," she began in angry tones, "you do not 
for one moment suppose I am going to lend you my pot to carry 
to camp, do you? If I were fool enough, I would never see it 
again, so don't think that you are going to get it. Go over there 
to Mrs. Hanger's, she will lend you hers ; one thing is certain, 

/ IVOlltf' 

"Marm," he still pleaded, "I will bring your pot back, hope I 
may die if I don't ! If you don't believe me I won't take it out 
of the yard but will kindle a fire just here; please, marm." 

"What do you want with it?" asked the old woman, who was 
beginning to feel that she would be none the worse in pocket by 



THE BATTLE OF SHARPSBURG 285 

granting- the request, but might, on the contrary, be gainer in 
some way, 

"I want to bile some stone soup," answered the soldier, looking 
pitifully at his questioner, 

"Stone soup! what's stone soup?" and the old lady's curiosity 
began to rise. 

"How do you make it, and what for?" 

"Marm," replied the mournful infantryman, "'ever since the 
A\ar began the rations have become scarcer and scarcer, until now^ 
they have stopped entirely and we-uns have to live on stone soup 
to keep from starving." 

"Stone soup," mused the woman. "I never heard of it before, 
must be something new ; one of these new-fangled things ; cheap, 
too; well, how do you say you make it?" 

'Tlease, marm, you get a pot with some water and 1 will sho\\^ 
you; we biles the stone," 

The ancient dame trotted off full of wonder and inquisitiveness 
to get the article. Yes, it was worth knowing the recipe ; fully 
worth the use of the pot, besides she would make her dinner off 
that soup and save that much ! So, very much mollified, she re- 
turned and found the soldier had already kindled his fire ; plac- 
ing the kettle over it he waited for the water to l;oil, in the 
meanwhile selecting a rock about the size of his head, which he 
washed clean and put in the pot ; then he said to the old woman, 
who had been peering into the pot through her spectacles : 

"Marm, please give me a leetle piece of bacon alx)ut the size of 
your hand to give the soup a relish." 

The old lady trotted off and got it for him ; another five min- 
utes passed. 

"Js it done ?" she inquired. 

"It's mos' done, but please, marm, give me half a head o' cab- 
bage just to make it taste right," 

Without a word the cabbage was brought ; and ten minutes 
slipped away. 

"Is it not done by this time?" again she asked. 

"Mos' done," with a brightening look, and then as if a new idea 
had just occurred to him : "Please, marm. can't you give me a half 
a dozen potatoes just to give it a nice flavor like." 

"All right," answered the widow, who by this time had become 
deeply absorbed in the operation. The potatoes followed the 
meat and cabbage, and another ten minutes followed that. 



286 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

"Isn't it done yet? 'Pears to me that it's a long time cooking," 
she said, getting somewhat impatient. 

"Mos' done, marm, mos' done," insinuatingly. "Jest get me a 
small handful of flour, a little pepper and some termartusses 
and it will be all right then." 

The things were duly added from the widow's stores and 
bubbled in the pot a while ; then the soup was pronounced done 
and lifted from the fire. The soldier pulled out his knife with 
spoon attachment and commenced to eat ; he lost no time be- 
tween mouthfuls; the economical widow hastened in, and re- 
turned with a plate, which she filled ; on tasting the first spoonful 
she exclaimed, "Why, man, this is nothing but common meat and 
vegetable soup !" 

"So it is, marm," responded the soldier after a while, for there 
was not a minute to spare for talking: "so it is. marm, but we call 
it stone soup." 

The old lady carried the pot back into the house, but not be- 
fore the man had emptied it, learning for the first time how a 
soldier's ingenuity could compass anything and outwit even 
herself. She said, "They have Old Nick on their side," and tra- 
dition adds, she even kept that stone and swore by it. 

The enemy's guns had begun to play upon Sharpsburg as a 
small party of the Seventeenth entered the village on a tour of 
sight-seeing and touring generally. The many hills echoed and 
re-echoed the war music that for the last three months had been 
so familiar to our ears. 

Yes, the place was indeed forsaken, not so much as a stray 
dog being seen upon the streets ; but soon the shells began 
dropping on the housetops, making a fearful noise as they tore 
up the plank, split the rafters, and sent the shingles flying in the 
air. As the din was at its height a young girl of apparently 
sixteen years appeared on the street bareheaded, her long hair 
streaming wildly. The Sharpsburg maiden was mad, it seemed, 
not from love but with terror, and tore frantically along, scream- 
ing piercingly as a shell exploded over her head. Her presence 
at such a time gave rise to much conjecture which was never 
explained ; there she was making her way out of town, indifferent 
to every feeling except the blind, overpowering instincts of dis- 
njay ; and we never knew or heard more. 

Keeping on, our squad halted before a gate which opened into 
one of the most enticing-looking gardens ; the grounds were 
beautifully laid out and were bright with flowers and rich in 



THE BATTLE OF SHARPSBURG 287 

luscious fruits ; the purple grapes hung in clusters, the trees bent 
beneath their burden of golden peaches, russet pears and ruddy- 
cheeked apples. The temptation to enter was too strong to 
resist; in the center of the garden nestled as pretty a vine-cov- 
ered cottage as the most romantic maiden would wish to live in 
v.ith her own love-crowned king; the front doors were locked, 
but on going to the rear we found on the back porch an old 
couple, as calm and composed as if war and carnage had been 
a thousand miles away. It would have been a sweet domestic 
picture at any time, one worth}^ of an artist's brush, that "Old 
John Anderson" and his wife, sitting placidly and lovingly hand 
in hand in the home that their joint labors had beautified and 
consecrated in their journey of life, so near the bottom of the 
hill where they would soon sleep together; but all the more 
striking was it when the boom of the cannon rattled the case- 
ments and shook the very foundation of the house beneath their 
feet. 

I went up and remonstrated with them for remaining in the 
village. I told them that the battle would probably rage near 
that very spot, and that shells would fire the house even if they 
did not succeed in first splitting it into kindling wood, and urged 
them to leave the place while there was yet time. 

The old man replied that they had no place to go, that this had 
been their home all their lives, they knew no other, and they 
would rather die here than leave it; he had not done the Rebels 
any harm, he said, that they should come and drive him out of 
his house; no, tJicy would not go; they intended to stay; ''do we 
not?" he added, appealing to his aged spouse, who only answered 
by an emphatic nod. Seeing that argument was useless, we left 
the house with a farewell word of warning; they vouchsafed no 
answer, but sat awaiting the result without fear. 

The Yankees carried the village by a charge a few hours after; 
let us hope that the worthy couple had changed their minds in 
time. 

Walking leisurely out of the garden and turning into the road 
which led to the Seventeenth, we were passing a group of soldiers 
who were lying behind a fence watching the flash of the enemy's 
artillery upon a hill about a mile off, when suddenly a twelve- 
pound shell from those very guns struck the ground in front of 
us. and then, as if cast by a child's hand, rolled gently in among 
the group and there rested with the fuse sputtering and blazing. 
The effect was ludicrous; every man jumped, hopped, ran or 



288 JOHNNY RHB AND BILLY YANK 

rolled from the harmless looking black ball as if it had the small- 
pox, nor drew tip until a respectable distance had been put be- 
tween them ; then with bowed forms and faces to the ground 
they awaited its supreme pleasure ; it came soon enough, and 
carried away a whole panel of the fence by, the force of its dis- 
charge. 

"What a mercy the fuse was so long !" we said as we returned 
and gathered up the fruit that we were carrying for future de- 
lectation. 

The Yankees were preparing for the combat. On the heights 
some two thousand yards away fresh batteries took position and 
opened, ours replying, and so the forenoon wore away ; the 
war clamor increased, and soon on our left the splashing of musk- 
etry and then the steady, rattling discharges showed the battle was 
fully joined. 

We soon heard the old cry, "Fall in," and in line we advanced 
and took our places, waiting. 

Our position was directly in front of the village of Sharpsburg 
on a high hill behind a new post-and-rail fence. The topography 
of the country consisted of a succession of undulating hills and 
corresponding valleys. The elevation upon which we stood 
sank rather abruptly to a deep bottom, and rising suddenly, like 
the waves of the sea, formed another crest about sixty yards on 
an air line from our position. Any attacking force would be 
invisible until it arrived on the top of the crest opposite, and in 
pistol-shot distance, or what we call point-blank musketry range. 

In our front about a mile away was Antietam Creek, spanned 
by a bridge and guarded by Toombs's Georgian Brigade, which 
was only a skeleton command. 

Our army surrounded Sharpsburg in a semi-circle, and we 
could lie there and hear the raging, frenzied battle on our left ; 
reports of the cannon were incessant, at times it seemed as if 
a hundred guns had exploded simultaneously and then run off 
into splendid file-firing. 

Then the fight commenced at Antietam Bridge, where Toombs 
waited with his Georgians. The Yankees had commenced to shell 
their front, which we all knew was a prelude to the deadlier charge 
of infantry. 

The shells began to sail over us as we lay close behind the 
fence, shrieking their wild war-song, that canzonet of carnage and 
death. We cowered in the smallest possible space as the Hotch- 
kiss, with the sliriek of a demon, which made the bravest quail. 



THE BATTLE OE SHARPSBURG 289 

burst far in the rear ; it is not more destructive than others, this 
projectile, but there is a great deal in the terrific noise it makes 
to work on men's fears, caused by the jagged edge of lead which 
is left on the shell as it leaves the gun ; for this reason alone the 
moral effect of the Hotchkiss shell is powerful. The Chinese 
apply this principle of warfare most successfully when they beat 
their gongs. 

The enemy was silent for a while, but it was the calm that is 
but a preface to a hurricane. The musketry at the bridge broke 
out fiercely, rising and swelHng into full compass. Sharp work 
was going on, and in about an hour's time we saw Toombs's small 
brigade rushing back, its line broken but its spirit and morale 
intact; it retreated to the village, was reformed and stood wait- 
ing as our reserve. 

We made ready, and expected to see the victorious enemy fol- 
low hard upon the heels of the retreating Rebels, but to our as- 
tonishment an hour of absolute inactivity followed; no advance 
nor demonstrations was made in our front, while the battle on 
our left was raging as fiercely as ever. 

At last, toward evening, the shelling was renewed. Brown's bat- 
tery, supporting our brigade, replied, and soon came the singing 
overhead of the Minies ; there is a peculiarly tuneful pitch to the 
flight of these little leaden balls, and a musical ear can study the 
difference in tone as they skim through the air, A member of 
the Seventeenth, an amateur musician of no mean order, speak- 
ing of them in this connection said : 

"I caught the pitch of that Minie just now ; it was a swell from 
E flat to F, and as it disappeared in the distance the note retrograded 
to D, a very pretty change," 

It was now late in the evening, and the men, having become 
cramped from lying in the same position for such a length of 
time, were moving about and seeking reiief from the long con- 
straint in walking up and down, when the guarded, stern, nervous 
voice of our commanding officer sent every soldier back into line : 

"Quick, men, back to your posts !" 

There as we waited and each man looked along the ranks, the 
slight frail line, stretching out behind the fence to withstand the 
onset of solid ranks of blue, he felt his heart sink within him and 
grow faint. 

Yet who could but be proud of such soldiers as those? They 
were the ^eitr dc mille of the army ; by unquenchable pride and 
indomitable will only had they been enabled to keep up at all in 
19 



290 JOHNNY REB AND BILI^Y YANK 

this campaign; dirty, gaunt and tattered as they were, yet they 
showed their Hneage. 

Marshall Villais, as he witnessed the Scotch gentry fighting in ' 
the ranks under the Chevalier St. George in the battle of Mai- i 
quapet, exclaimed: | 

"Pardi! gentilhomme est toujours gentilhomme." I 

Yes, this string of tattered men lying there with rifles clenched i 
tightly in their hands, awaiting without a visible tremor almost I 
certain destruction, had marched wearily on and on, although 
their gaunt frames seemed as if they might sink at every step; 
they had followed their colors through the long, hot, dusty way, 
while fatigue was relaxing their muscles, closing their eyes, and 
deadening all but their wills; they had dragged themselves to 
the field with stone-bruised feet and aching limbs; they had 
fought and won battles while hunger was gnawing at their vitals; 
they had never halted, though nearly naked, covered with I 
dust, devoured by vermin and half famished at all times ; through n 
the smoke of battle, through the torrid heat of a summer's sun, a 
through pain and incessant hardships they had never faltered. [ 

Neither the Knights who followed Coeur de Leon to the Holy 
Land or those who swore fealty to the Holy Grail ever did their 
duty more nobly, more staunchly than did those dust-covered 
bronzed men. 

The brigade was a mere remnant of its former strength, not 
a sixth remaining. The Seventeenth, that once carried into bat- 
tle eight hundred men, now stood on the crest, ready to die in a 
forlorn hope, with but forty-six muskets. The old organization 
of the Riflemen, Company A, that often used to march on a 
grand review in two platoons of fifty men each, carried into 
Sharpsburg but one musket. For the Alexandria Riflemen, the 
crack company of Alexandria, was not at Sharpsburg; many had 
fallen dead and wounded in the battles ; more were sick and in 
the hospitals, and the few that were left after the Manassas fight 
had dropped exhausted by the wayside, and I was the only one of 
the rank and file left, and Lieutenant Tom Perry the only of^cer. 
It is but little wonder that the thin, attenuated line of the brigade 
made up their minds that they were doomed to fall, knowing as 
they did that we had no reserves. Well, a man can die but once. 

Suddenly an eight-gun battery tried to shell us out, prepara- 
tory to the infantry advance, and the air around us grew resonant 
with the bursting iron. Brown's battery of four guns took its place 
about twenty steps on our right, for our right flank was entirely 



THE BATIXK OB' SHARPSBURG 29 1 

undefended, and replied to the enemy. A shell burst not ten feet 
above the Seventeenth, where the men were lying prone on their 
faces; it literally tore to pieces poor Appich, of Company E, 
mangling- his body terribly and spattering his blood over many 
who were lying" around him ; a quiver of the flesh and all was 
still. 

Another Hotchkiss came shrieking where we were cowering, 
still the line not move nor utter a sound ; the shells were splitting 
all around and whirling the dust up in such quantities as threatened 
to bury as well as wound and kill us. 

Oh those long, long minutes ! as we were waiting with closed 
eyes, waiting disfigurement or death, expecting a shock of the 
plunging iron with every breath we drew ; would it never end ? 

For fifteen minutes the men had tightly clenched their jaws 
and never moved ; a line of corpses might have been as motion- 
less. 

At last ! At last ! the firing entirely ceased ; Brown's battery 
limbered up and moved away, because they said the ammuni- 
tion was exhausted ; but curses loud and deep came from the 
brigade and they were openly charging the battery with desert- 
ing them in the coming ordeal ; and it was in truth a desertion, 
for instead of having thrown their shells at the enemy's eight- 
gun battery, thereby drawing their fire upon us, they should have 
lain low and waited until the infantry attack was made, and then 
every shot would have told; every shell, grape or canister-charge 
would have been a help. 

But there was no use wasting further thought, the guns moved 
away and left us to our fate ; and there was an end of it. 

An ominous silence followed, premonitory of the deluge. The 
Seventeenth were lying, with the rest of the brigade, flat upon 
the earth behind the post-and-rail fence, their rifles resting on 
the lower rails. The men's faces were pale, their features set, 
their hearts throbbing, their muscles strung like steel. 

We heard the low tones of the officer : 

"Steady, men! Steady! They are coming! Ready!" 

The warning click of each hammer as the guns were cocked 
ran down the lines ; a monitory, solemn sound, chronicling for 
many the brief seconds before the awful plunge into Eternity was 
made ; for when that click is heard the supreme moment has come. 

The hill in front of us shut out all view, but the advancing 
Federals were close upon us ; they were mounting the hill, the 
loud tones of their officers, the clanking of their equipments and 



292 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

the Steady tramp of the approaching columns were easily distin- 
guishable, and then Colonel Corse said quietly and calmly, but in 
a tone which all could hear : 

"Steady, my men ! Seventeenth, don't fire until they get above 
the hill." 

Each man lying flat upon his breast, his weapon resting, as I 

said before, on the lowest rail of the fence, sighted his rifle about 

two feet above the crest, and then, with his finger on tlie trigger, 

.waited until an advancing form should interpose between the 

bead and the clear sky beyond. 

The first object we saw was the gilt eagle which surmounted 
the flag staff, and after that the flutter of the flag itself ; slowly 
it mounted, until the Stars and Stripes were flying all unfurled 
before us. Then a line of hats came into sight, and still rising 
the faces beneath them emerged and a range of curious eyes were 
bent upon us ; and then such a hurrah as only Yankee troops 
could give broke upon our ears and they were rapidly clim]:)ing 
the hill and surging toward us. 

"Keep cool, men, don't fire yet !" Colonel Corse shouted, and 
such was the perfect discipline that not a gun replied; but when 
the Yankee band flashed above the hill-top the forty-six muskets 
exploded at once and sent a leaden shower full into the breasts of 
the attacking force, who were not over sixty yards distant. It 
was a murderous fire and many fell ; most of them retreated over 
the hill ; a few stopped to fire, and it sounded like the sputtering 
of a pack of firecrackers. The men in frenzied haste reloaded 
their muskets and lay silent and expectant ; we could easily hear 
the officers expostulating and urging the men to reform, and 
they made a rush the second time, but it was without heart, and 
when we poured in a close fire, they broke in a panic and disap- 
peared, officers and men, over the brow of the hill. We had no 
time to feel jubilant, for the rattling of drums in our front, the 
measured tread, the clanking of the accoutrements showed that 
the Yankee reserves were coming up. We braced ourselves for 
the shock, and every man looked backward, hoping to see rein- 
forcements, but not a soul could be seen between us and the 
village. 

Our losses had been trifling up to that time, but in our front 
the ground was strewn with the dead and dying Federals ; we 
noticed mau}^ walk, hobble and crawl over the crest; all undis- 
turbed, for no one fired, and the order to remain in ranks was im- 
plicitly obeyed. 



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BF^ 


- ) 

) 


1 




^^H 


.'W 



\ 



THE) battle: 0^ SHARPSBURG 293 

The Seventeenth was on the extreme right and in the air, and 
it was by the merest chance that the first attacking force had not 
overlapped us. 

Had we known what the next fifteen minutes would bring 
forth, every officer and man would have fallen back to Toombs's 
Georgia Brigade, which had reformed on the edge of Sharpsburg; 
for the South Carolina Brigade, which was on our left, gave way; 
thus our small force had both flanks unsupported. 

The enemy knew our position perfectly, and their line far over- 
lapped ours. 

We heard the commanding officer of the unseen foe give the 
order "Forward, march! Dress to the colors! Double-quick!" 
and in a shorter time than it takes to write this, they came over 
the rising ground with a ringing cheer; when they reached the 
eminence every man in the Rebel line who could sight a gun 
pulled trigger. The two hundred or so muskets of the brigade 
exploded like a bomb; the discharge tore gaps in the line of 
blue; it reeled, bent and doubled up, some of the soldiers breaking 
for shelter; but grit to the back bone, the rest stood their ground 
and raised their guns. I can never forget that moment; it was 
photographed indelibly on my mind ; the sun glanced and 
gleamed on the leveled barrels, and the black tubes of the muz- 
zles, not over twenty feet away, turned on us with deadly mean- 
ing. I crouched to the ground, and fortunately I was 
behind a post instead of a rail ; I shut my eyes ; a second of 
silence, then a stunning volley, the crash of the splintered wood. 
a purple smoke, a smell of sulphur, the spat and spud of the 
bullet, and the Seventeenth Virginia, or the remnant of it, was 
wiped out. The attacking force of the Eighth Connecticut and 
Ninth New York and their reserves, a Rhode Island regiment, 
mingled together, swept forward without stopping to load their 
guns, and went over the fence pell-mell and disappeared down 
the hill. I glanced back and saw the remainder of our brigade 
moving to the rear without order or formation, at a gait which 
proved they believed the race would be to the swift, just as the 
battle had been to the strong. 

As after-events proved, it was a sensible retreat, for the men 
rallied on Toombs's brigade and drove back the Ninth New York 
and Rhode Island Regiment and the One Hundred and Third 
New York Regiment. 

There had been some desperate fighting' on the field of Sharps- 
burg that day, but no one on our side held such a forlorn hope, 



294 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

fought such odds at such a bloody sacrifice as did the Seven- 
teenth Virginia. It was the only battle in which I ever engaged 
where the forms and faces of the foe were plainly visible. 

There was but one of our regiment who was taken prisoner 
besides myself, Gunnell, of Co. F. We shook hands warmly ; he 
was unhurt, but his clothing was perforated with balls. I had 
a bullet hole in my old slouch hat and my cartridge-box was 
smashed. 

Two of our victors stopped and took us in tow, and kindly 
allowed us to walk up our line to see who was killed. It was a 
sad, sad sight; Colonel Corse lay at full length on his face, mo- 
tionless and still ; I thought at the time he was dead ; I stepped 
across the dead body of our brave color-sergeant, and near him, 
with a bullet through his forehead, lay that gallant, handsome 
soldier, Lieut. Littleton, of the Loudoun Guards. I looked around 
for Tom Perry, but he was not there, nor was Lieut. Col. Herbert, 
nor about half a dozen privates I knew, so they must have ske- 
daddled in the nick of time. Of the forty-six muskets, as I 
found out afterwards, that we carried into battle, the bearers of 
thirty-five lay on that ground dead or wounded. Every officer 
was sr.ot down except two.* 

The guards were impatient, so we crossed the fence, and not ten 
feet away was a surgeon and a group of men around a stricken 
of^cer; he was deadly pale and appeared to be mortally 
wounded. We inquired who he was and they answered that he 
was General Rodman, commanding a division, and that a bullet 
had penetrated his breast ; afterwards I heard that Sam Coleman, 
of Co. G of the Seventeenth, fired the fatal shot. 

Hurrying back a few hundred yards to the top of another hill 
out of reach of shot and shell, captured and captors turned to 
look upon the scene before them. Our forces seemed to be 
giving ground, and as line after line of Yankee reserves pushed 

*In the summer of 1904, forty-two years later, I visited the scene of conflict 
and stood on that historic spot, and the scene is absolutely unaltered ; a 
new post-and-rail fence occupies the same place where the Seventeenth lay ; a few 
feet from the fence is a cannon planted mouth downward, marking the spot where 
Division General Isaac P. Rodman fell. A few feet away is a monument in honor 
of the nth Connecticut Volunteers; on it is inscribed: "This regiment had 400 
men engaged, and lost in killed and wounded 194 rank and file." 

About ten paces distant is a lofty granite shaft in honor of the men of the 
Ninth New York Volunteers. The inscription reads : "The greatest mortality 
occurred on this position. The regiment contending with a superior force of 
infantry and artillery." On the reverse side is written : "Hawkins' N. Y. 
Zouaves. Carried into action 2>7i- Killed 54, wounded 158, missing 28, in all 
250 men." 



THE BATTLE OE SHARPSBURG 295 

forward it looked dark for the Rebels, as if the star of the Con- 
federacy had neared its going down and Sharpsburg was to be 
our Waterloo. 

A fearful struggle was now taking place in the woods half a 
mile or so to the left, and the concussion of the guns seemed to 
make the hills tremble and vibrate. 

But a change took place in the situation, a marvelous change 
before our eyes; one moment the Federal lines were steadily ad- 
vancing and sweeping everything before them, another, and 
all was altered. The disordered ranks, while so proudly conquer- 
ing, w^ere rushing back in disorder, while the Rebels rapidly pur- 
sued ; their bullets fell around us, causing guards and prisoners 
to decamp. 

"What does this mean?" we asked. 

But its import no one could tell, although the reflux tide con- 
tinued to bear us back. Finally a wounded prisoner, a Rebel 
officer, who was being supported to the rear, answered the ques- 
tion so eagerly put to him. 

"Stonewall Jackson has just gotten back from Harper's Ferry 
and those troops engaging the Yankees now are A. P. Hills." 

How the Southerner's face glowed as he told us this; what 
a light leaped into his eyes, wounded as he was. Well, we pass 
over the supreme, ineffable content of that moment, for we felt all 
would be right now. If Old Stonewall is up, not a man in our 
army need trouble himself about the result. Yes, we were safe ! 

Still receded the wave of blue; still forward rushed the wave 
of gray, heralded by the warning hiss of the bullets, the sparkling 
flashes of the rifles, the mingled hurrahs and wild yells to which 
the hoarse cannonading on our left served as a low bass accom- 
paniment, the purplish vapor settling like a mist over the lines. 

Still we receded, stopping on the top of every rise of ground 
to watch the battle. It was sunset upon the hills; again we 
paused to see the reddened rays strike upon the windows of the 
little town of Sharpsburg, more vivid now than ever the flames 
bursting from yonder house which an exploding shell had fired. 

We were thinking of that line of motionless comrades lying on 
the crest of the hill low down beside the fence; and wondering 
if the sun was lighting up their pallid faces. 

At last the bridge was reached, the stone bridge that crossed 
Antietam Creek, the key-point of the Federal position, the weak 
point in their line, the spot so anxiously watched by McClellan; 
lie had sent repeated dispatches to Burnside late that evening as 



296 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

A. P. Hill was pressing back the hitherto advancing tide ; and 
their burden was : 

"Hold on to the bridge at all hazards. If the bridge is lost all 
is lost." 

And just here was the point where Toombs's Georgians had 
made such a gallant defense of the river early in the forenoon ; 
and they were the dead of that intrepid command lying so thick 
upon the ground. 

The battle in our front ceased suddenly, though on other parts 
of the field the firing was kept up. As we approached the bridge 
we were astonished to find so many troops, not a man under ten 
thousand it appeared, and they were all fresh. Certainly there 
seemed no danger of Burnside losing the bridge with all those 
splendid soldiers ready to defend it. Had those men advanced 
earlier in the day instead of being held back as they were, this 
would have been a black day for the South. We had no reserves 
and A. P. Hill in the morning was miles away. 

The Yankees had established a field hospital at this point, 
where the desperately wounded in the immediate vicinity were 
carried. A group of four figures lay just as they had fallen, 
killed by the explosion of a single shell. One of Toombs's Geor- 
gians was killed just as he was taking aim, one eye open and the 
other closed; the figure was hideously life-like. The profound 
stillness was pierced at intervals by the booming of some venge- 
ful gun that, like the fabled dragon, seemed never to sleep. 

Let the sun sink beneath the boundary rim, let the shadows 
gloom the horrid scene and hide the Goddess of Slaughter as she 
moves over the stricken field gloating over the evils that the 
passion and ambition of politicians have wrought. 

Oh death in life! w^hat a piteous scene! shut both eye and ear 
if you can, still the blood-reeking forms will be plain before your 
view and you will hear sounds that seem as if a thousand accursed 
"Inquisitors" were torturing their despairing victims. 

Night came on at last, putting a stop to the dreadful carnage 
of the day, and the tender, pitiful stars shone in the vast dome 
and looked down upon the scene of desolation and death. The 
firing had lulled itself to silence and only the groans of the dying 
were heard, borne on a murmuring breeze which swept across 
the hills, as refreshing and tender in its touch as a cool hand 
laid upon a fevered brow. 

^Ve prisoners were taken across the stream, where were gath- 
ered all of that unfortunate class, representing every command in 



THE BATTLE OE SHARPSBURG 297 

the Southern Army, and numbering some five hundred, inclusive 
of about a dozen officers. 

Colonel Corse, commanding the Seventeenth Virginia, in his 
official report says of this battle : 

■'About 4 P. M. the enemy was reported to be advancing. 
We moved forward to the top of a hill to a fence and immediately 
engaged the enemy at a distance of fifty or sixty yards, at the 
same time being under fire from their batteries on the hills 
beyond. My regiment being the extreme right of the line en- 
gaging the enemy, came directly opposite the colors of the regi- 
ment to which it was opposed, consequently being, overlapped 
by them as far as I could judge by at least one hundred yards. 
Regardless of the great odds against them the men courage- 
ously stood their ground until, overwhelmed by superior numbers, 
they were forced to retire. 

"I have to state here, General, that we put in the fight but 
forty-six enlisted men and nine officers ; of this number seven 
officers and thirty-two men were killed and wounded and two 
taken prisoners. 

"It w^as here that Captain J. T. Burke and Lieutenant Littleton 
were killed, two the bravest and most valuable officers of my 
command. Color Corporal Harper fell fighting heroically at his 
post. These brave men I think deserve particular mention. 

"I received a wound in the foot which prevented me from 
retiring with our line and was left in the hands of the enemy, but 
was rescued by General Toombs's brigade, which drove the enemy 
back beyond the line we had occupied in the morning. In this 
charge Lieutenant W. W. Athey, of Co. C, 17th Virginia, cap- 
tured the regimental colors of the One Hundred and Third New 
York Regiment, presented to them by the City Council of New 
York City, which I herewith forward to you. Those who de- 
serve particular mention for their distinguished gallantry were 
Lieutenant Thomas Perry, Co. A, Lieutenant S. S. Turner, Co. 
B, Color Corporals Murphy and Harper and Lieutenant Athey 
of Co. C." (Reb. Records, Vol. 19, p. 905.) 

Lieutenant-General Longstreet says of this battle : 

"The name of every officer, non-commissioned officer and pri- 
vate who shared in the toils and privations of this campaign 
should be mentioned. In one month these troops had marched 
over two hundred miles upon little more than half rations and 
fought nine battles and skirmishes, killed, wounded and captured 



298 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK 

nearly as many men as we had in our ranks, besides taking arms 
and munitions of war in large quantities." {Ibid, p. 841.) 

General D. H. Hill says in his official report: "It is true that 
hunger and exhaustion had nearly unfitted these brave men for 
battle, our wagons had been sent off across the river on Sunday 
and for three days the men had been sustaining life on green 
food. In charging through an apple orchard at the Yankees, 
with the immediate prospect of death before them, I noticed the 
men eagerly devouring apples." {Ibid, p. 1025.) 

Further on General Hill says : 

"The Battle of Sharpsburg was a success so far as the failure 
of the Yankees to carry the position they assailed was concerned. 
It would, however, have been a glorious victory but for three causes : 

"ist. The separation of our forces. Had McLane and Ander- 
son been there earlier in the morning, the battle would not have 
lasted two hours, and would have been signally disastrous to the 
Yankees. 

"2nd. The bad handling of our artillery. This could not cope 
with the superior weight, calibre, range and number of the 
Yankee guns. Hence it ought only to have been used against 
masses of infantry; on the contrary our guns were made to reply 
to the Yankee guns, and were smashed up or withdrawn before 
they could be effectually turned against massive columns of 
attack. An artillery duel between the Washington Artillery of 
New Orleans and the Yankee batteries across the Antietam was 
the most melancholy farce of the war. 

"3rd. The enormous straggling. This battle was fought with 
less than thirty thousand men. Had all our stragglers been up, 
McClellan's army would have been completely crushed or anni- 
hilated. Doubtless the want of shoes, the want of food and 
physical exhaustion had kept many brave men from being with 
the army, but thousands had kept away from sheer cowardice. 
The straggler, lost to all sense of shame, can only be kept in ranks 
by a strict and sanguinary discipline." 

McClellan was in one respect at least wiser than Lee. At the 
beginning of this campaign he issued an order taking sternly re- 
pressive measures against straggling. In this order dated at 
Rockville, Maryland, September 9, 1862, he says in part: 

"The safety of the country depends upon what this army 
shall now achieve; it cannot be successful if its soldiers are one- 
half skulking to the rear, while the brunt of the battle is borne by 
the other half, and its officers inattentive to lend every energy 



the; battle of sharpsburg 299 

to the eradication military vice of the straggHng." (Reb. Records, 
Vol. 14, p. 225.) 

On the day after, he had a proclamation read to every regiment 
in the army, and it is safe to say he thereby saved himself from 
utter defeat. It runs: "The straggler must now'be taught that he 
leaves the ranks without authority and skulks at the severest risks, 
even that of death. 

"Every division shall have a rear-guard, behind which no strag- 
gler of whatever corps or regiment shall be permitted to remain. 
The bayonet must be used to enforce these orders. Resistance 
will be at the risk of death." (Ibid, page 229.) 

In a dispatch to President Davis nine days after (September 
13) General Lee says: "Our ranks are much diminished, I fear 
from a third to one-half of the original numbers by straggling, 
which it seems impossible to prevent with our present regimental 
officers." {Ihid, p. 606.) 

On September 23, in his dispatch to the Secretary of War, 
General Lee reports : 

"You will see by the field returns sent to General Cooper the 
woeful diminution of the present for duty of this army. The 
absent are scattered broadcast over this land." (Reb. Records, Vol. 
19, p. 622.) 

Enough is shown by these extracts to show that fully one-half 
of the Confederate army were absent — nearly every barefooted 
man left the ranks unquestioned, and thousands threw away 
their shoes and received permission from their officers to fall out. 
Now these men were not cowards, they each one argued that "my 
musket won't make any difference in deciding the fight." 

General Lee's order to the chronic straggler was about as 
operative as a judge's admonition would be to a hardened crimi- 
nal. He says in a general order issued September 4, 1862 : 

"Stragglers are usually those who desert their comrades in 
peril. Such characters are better absent from the army on such 
momentous occasions as those about to be entered upon. They 
will by bringing discredit upon our corps as useless members of 
the service and especially deserving odium come under the special 
attention of the provost marshal, and be considered unworthy 
members of an army which has immortalized itself, and will be 
brought before a military commission to receive the punishment 
due to their misconduct. The gallant soldiers who have so nobly 
sustained our cause by heroism in battle will assist the command- 
ing general in securing success by aiding their officers in check- 



300 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

ing the desire for straggling among their comrades." {Ibid, 

p. 592.) 

Colonel Beach, of the Eighth Connecticut Infantry, in describing 
his attack upon our regiment says : 

"We advanced over the hill ; the enemy lay behind a fence and 
it was impossible to see them, and our men were under fire for 
the first time and could not be held." (Ibid, p. 455.) 

Colonel Fairchild, who commanded the Ninth New York 
(Hawkins's Zouaves), which captured our position, says: 

"We charged across the coni-field, and arriving at a fence 
behind which the enemy were awaiting us, we received their fire, 
losing large numbers of our men. We charged over the fence, 
dislodging and driving them from their position, down the hill 
toward the village." (Ibid, p. 459.) 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

PAROIvKD. 

In the morning a guard came and took the name of each pris- 
oner, his regiment, brigade and division, age, height, and it is 
possible the color of his eyes; indeed, had he been an insurance 
agent his questions could not have been more searching. 

All of the enemy who were brought into contact with us were 
much struck with our appearance; such a motley collection of 
shreds, patches, and tatters could not have been duplicated outside 
of a rag-picker's treasures ; indeed our uniforms were as scrappy 
and torn as a Tipperary beggar'§ dress suit. Could Barnum have 
shown us around in iron cages, the bearded female, the fat woman, 
the learned pig would have sunk into insignificance beside us. 

The truth is, a month had elapsed since any private had put on 
clean underclothing; and it is a solemnly sad fact that fully one- 
third of the prisoners there collected had neither shirt nor 
drawers, but wore a dilapidated uniform over the bare skin. 
Blankets or oilcloth not a man of us owned, our sole wealth con- 
sisting of a smutty haversack which contained for rations perhaps 
a few green apples. 

Dirty? Well, w^e were! not clean dirt either, or a mild type of 
dirt, but dirt absolute and invincible, dirt which had accumulated, 
hardened and stuck fast, had almost become scales; dirt which 
cracked at intervals like varnish on furniture. No wonder the 
Northern papers described Lee's army as composed of the 
lowest type of humanity, certainly they had that appearance ; and 
a well-dressed, comely Yankee soldier beside a Rebel prisoner 
made the latter seem a shabby, beggarly rascal, meaner looking 
than any Armenian or unspeakable Turk ; and then most of the 
prisoners having fought the greater part of the day, displayed faces 
so darkened with powder smoke as to need only a woolly wig to 
convert them into first-class Congo Africans. 

My own costume was on a par with that of the rest of my com- 
rades. When I left Richmond in August I had a good suit of 
underclothing, but as time passed my uniform got dirty, then 
ragged, and remained so ; my shirt and drawers were so infested 
with vermin that I had to sink them in running water in the night, 
and at last they became so shredded that I threw them away. 



302 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvl^Y YANK 

hence I was a fit mate for the most forlorn rag-picker that could 
be found within the purlieus of Saint Giles or the Five Points. 
An old slouch hat, so worn that the brim had to be pinned to the 
crown, covered my head; a gray jacket with wooden buttons half 
concealed my bony form, and the skin, encrusted with several 
layers of dirt, showed through every slit of the jacket. I had 
bathed many times in the streams, but having no soap the dirt 
remained. A pair of old blue breeches I had picked up off the 
battle-field completed the inventory, for I was barefooted these 
two week agone. 

"By the Lord, Johnny," said a blue-coat, "if you Rebs dress like 
that and fight naked, I'm going home." 

I could not help telling him that I was the most fashionably- 
dressed man in the regiment, he just ought to see the others. 
The Northern soldiers crowded around us in great exultation, 
showing the Extra Press Edition that had just arrived from 
Washington and Baltimore, in which their side had claimed a 
great victory. By those accounts the Rebel army was utterly 
broken and dispersed, and Lee surrounded, was wildly fleeing to 
the Potomac ; a portion of McClellan's army was in hot pursuit, 
and not a single Rebel would cross the river. 

A hot discussion followed : 

''Do you believe that stuff?" asked a prisoner of an officer who 
lounged up to the group, 

''C3f course I do; the paper would not have made the state- 
ment if it had not been so." 

"The hell they wouldn't!" growled out one of Jackson's foot- 
cavalry. "That paper says nothing about Harper's Ferry, where 
Old Jack captured eleven thousand of you with forty pieces of 
artillery. I saw them." And he spit the tobacco from his mouth 
with an expression of intense disgust. 

"Johnny Reb," said an offended Yankee, "if you say we lost 
eleven thousand men, you are a damned liar." 

"Well, I did say so, and it is no lie either; wasn't I there? 
Didn't I see them with my own eyes? and all their artillery taken 
too; ain't it so, boys?" he asked, appealing to his companions in 
misfortune. A chorus of assents followed, and the Yankee 
walked off, muttering something about "d Rebel lies." 

Several of us were sent under guard to Sharpsburg to get 
water for our compatriots, and so had a good opportunity to ex- 
amine the damage done to the village by yesterday's shelling. 
It was surprising how little destruction had been caused by such 



paroIve:d 303 

severe pounding. A few holes and fissures and some shattered 
bricks were all. One house had been set on fire, but being iso- 
lated, burned quickly and did no further damage. 

Our lines were drawn in about a mile from the village, so the 
cavalrymen told us; and to our intense relief they acknowledged 
that all accounts of an utter Rebel rout was bosh. 

While yet at the pump, surrounded by soldiers and guards, all 
struggling to secure a well-filled canteen, one of the prisoners 
slioved a Union soldier aside. The action was resented with 
vigor; then the Yankee struck the Rebel and the Rebel knocked 
the canteen over the Yankee's head. 

''Fight!" cried the crowd of soldiers, and despite the expostula- 
tions of the guard a ring was formed near the pump in the middle 
of the road, and both combatants placed therein. One big, broad, 
brawny Yankee, with a width of about three feet from shoulder 
to shoulder, patted the Reb on the back and said : 

"Don't be afraid, Johnny, the boys will see fair play. I'm from 
\\'est Virginia myself, so go in and win." 

They were just about to commence, and the Rebel to get 
thrashed in the bargain, for he looked unsteady on his pins, when 
a mounted officer rode up and in loud, angry tones ordered the 
crowd to disperse and the prisoners to return to their places. 
This little incident shows the American love of fair play, and I 
have always been thankful that officer came along, for he saved 
my bones a severe rattling. 

So the fight was stopped, though the men went off grumbling. 

One fact which impressed the Confederate prisoners very 
strongly was the prime condition of the Federal soldiers — im- 
pressed them as strongly as our poverty-stricken appearance 
astonished them. Stout, hearty, their personnel showed that 
they were neither over-worked nor under-fed ; rather the 
reverse, under-worked and over-fed. They were in a bad plight 
for marching, and could not compare with our men in endur- 
ance and speed; they had six days' rations in their haver- 
sacks, making a heavy load in itself, besides sixty rounds of am- 
munition, a musket, accoutrements, blanket, oilcloth, overcoat, 
knapsack well filled, and shelter tent; all together not weighing 
under sixty pounds. How could they be expected to make good 
time so weighted? As our preachers are ever wont to tell us of 
the "heavenly race," it's the riches of the wealthy that impede 
progress. We had no such excuse for not putting in an appearance 
either in the earthly race nor in the other. We were poor 



304 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK * 

enough, Heaven knows ! We were like the old woman who, after 
a not very religious life, sent for the minister to attend her dying 
bed ; when the worthy man began to tell her "flesh and blood 
could not enter heaven," she stopped him with the remark. "I 
ain't flesh and blood, I'm just skin and bones, I'm all right." And 
so without a word more died comforted. 

We carried our guns, it is true, perhaps a single blanket swung 
over our shoulders, but very often no blanket, a haversack whose 
normal condition was emptiness, and we owned not one super- 
fluous pound of flesh. 

It was like a two-horse sixteen-mile race ; Johnny Reb, a 
blooded bay, very spare ; flesh reduced, muscles well developed ; 
thoroughly trained, welter weight. Billy Yank, black stallion ; 
good stock ; untrained ; fat and pursy ; rather short in wind ; 
handicapped with forty pounds extra. 

Jackson's men were especially noted for fleetness, hence their 
sobriquet of "Foot Cavalry;" they were often known to break 
down even the horses in a long forced march of days. 

In his congratulatory report issued September 29th, 1862, Gen- 
eral McClellan claimed everything; he says: 

"Our loss was 2,010 killed, 9,416 wounded and 1,044 missing; 
total, 12,469. The Rebel loss in killed and wounded was 25,542. 
We have not lost a single gun or color on the battle-field of Sharps- 
burg." (Reb. Records, Vol. 19, p. 181.) 

Surgeon-General Guild gives the Rebel loss in the battles of 
Boonsboro, Crampton's Gap and Sharpsburg as 1,567 killed and 
8,724 wounded and 500 captured. 

As regards the strength of the contestants, General McClellan 
placed his own army at 87,164 men, and our Rebel force as 
100,000 men. (Ibid.) 

The number of Confederates to a man who fought at Sharps- 
burg, as proven by the Reb. Records, was 35,255. 

On the 1 8th of September every city, town, hamlet and vil- 
lage of the North made preparation to illuminate with fire, and 
celebrate with the crash of martial music and the cheers of the 
loyal people, the great victory won. 

Then followed Lee's dispatch. 

The world had learned to take the words of Robert E. Lee at 
their true value. The pyrotechnic proclamation, the boasting 
dispatches, the prevaricating reports of the generals on both 
sides found no favor with him, and the grandest compliment that 
man or woman ever received was paid him by his enemies, for 



PAROIvKD 305 

the North always waited for his official report of a great battle 
before it exulted over a victory or mourned over a defeat. Claim- 
ing great victories was the invariable custom of every commander 
of the Army of the Potomac except Grant. The North had gone 
wild over McClellan's success at Sharpsburg until Lee's address 
was read, then the reaction came and McClellan, the organ- 
izer of the great Union army, speedily lost his official head. In 
that address Lee wrote for posterity, not to tickle the conceit 
of his people nor flatter their self-love or pander to their passion ; 
every word, every sentence, every line addressd to his army was 
weighed in the scales of justice and truth, and his enemies ac- 
cepted his version without one whisper of detraction — without 
one word of doubt. Here is his address : 

"General Orders Headquarters of Army of Northern Virginia, 
"No. 116. October 2nd, 1862. 

"In reviewing the achievements of the army during the present 
campaign, the commanding General cannot withhold the expres- 
sion of his admiration of the indomitable courage it has dis- 
played in battle and its cheerful endurance of privation and hard- 
ship on the march. Since your great victories around Richmond, 
you have defeated the enemy at Cedar Mountain, expelled him 
from the Rappahannock, and after a conflict of three days, utterly 
repulsed him on the plains of Manassas and forced him to take 
shelter within the fortifications around the Capital. Without halt- 
ing for repose, you crossed the Potomac, stormed the heights of 
Harper's Ferry, made prisoners of more than 11.000 men, and 
captured upward of seventy-five pieces of artillery, all their small- 
arms and other munitions of war. While one corps of the army 
was thus engaged the other insured its success by arresting at 
Boonsboro the combined armies of the enemy, advancing 
under their favorite general to the relief of the beleagured com- 
rades. On the field of Sharpsburg, with less than one-third his 
numbers, you resisted from daylight until dark the whole army 
of the enemy, and repulsed every attack along his entire front 
more than 4 miles in extent. The whole of the following day you 
stood prepared to resume the conffict on the same ground, and 
retired next morning without molestation across the Potomac. 
Two attempts subsequently made by the enemy to follow you 
across the river have resulted in his complete discomfiture and 
being driven back with loss. Achievements such as these de- 
manded much valor and patriotism. History records few 

20 



3o6 JOHNNY re;b and bii^IvY yank 

examples of greater fortitude and endurance than this army has 
exhibited." (Reb. Records, Vol. 19, pp. 644-645.) 

The great soul of Robert E. Lee harbored no small feelings, 
and hate found no lodgment in his heart. In the hurly-burly of 
war he found time to perform a knightly act. He writes to the 
Secretary of War in Richmond : 

"Sir : — Mrs. Phil. Kearny has applied for the horse and sword 
of Major-General Phil. Kearny, who was killed near Chantilly. 
I shall send them at once as an evidence of the sympathy felt for 
her bereavement and as a testimony of the appreciation of a gal- 
lant soldier." 

After every battle the soldiers, no matter what uniforms they 
wore, were more eager to hear the enemy's account of the battle 
than their own officers' version. By steering betwixt and be- 
tween, as it were, the average man could get pretty close to the 
truth. The opinion of the Federal officers on the battle of 
Sharpsburg made the Southern veterans who were in the engage- 
ment feel proud. 

In Parker Snow's book, "The Southern Generals," page yy, 
he says: 

"A Federal officer high in rank wrote to the Neiv York Tri- 
buiie: 'It is a wonder,' he said, 'how men such as the Rebel 
troops are can fight as they do. That these ragged wretches, 
sick, hungry and in all ways miserable, should prove such heroes 
in a fight, is past explanation.' " 

We learned to our delight that all the prisoners were to be 
paroled and sent home instead of being forwarded North and 
confined in prisons. Full rations were given to us, and if our 
haversacks became empty there were soldiers among those who 
came up to talk to us, to fill them anew. So if Johnny Reb was 
still dirty he ceased to have the gnawing pain that hunger ever 
produces, and which green apples and corn are apt to induce in 
greater measure. 

On the second day after the capture the whole battalion of 
prisoners, numbering five hundred and fifty officers and men, 
having been duly paroled, were marched under guard to the Po- 
tomac en route to the Confederate army. By the cartel the pris- 
oners were to remain at their homes until notified by the proper 
Southern officials that they had been exchanged. 

There is nothing so bad that it might not be worse ; a fact too 
well assured for dispute. 



parol,e;d 307 

Reaching the northern bank of the Potomac we found that 
side of the river heavily guarded by a strong force Hning the 
shore. They had thrown up a hastily constructed breastwork and 
lay on the alert, both infantry and artillery, as if expecting an at- 
tack. A fierce contest on the opposite shore had taken place 
the evening before, they said, in which the Rebels had driven 
them back with fearful slaughter; and they were only wishing 
those same Rebs would advance that they might have a chance 
to retaliate. 

"We can't go any farther," said our guards, "as your forces 
hold the other side. You are free men now; so pitch in and 
wade across." 

It needed no second bidding and we went in just as we were. 

"Good-by, Johnny Reb!" shouted the lines in blue. 

"Good-by, Billy Yank!" halloed the gray as they picked their 
way carefully over the rocks. 

The bank of the Potomac on the northern side was flat, on 
the south it rose almost perpendicular from the water's edge 
to a considerable height. Arriving on this shore we saw before 
us the evidence of a hot action and great loss of life. The Federal 
advance had literally been hurled over the rocks and hills by 
A. P. Hill's rear-guard ; their dead lay on the beach, in the water, 
and on the side of the hills in scores ; many had actually run over 
the steep bank in their terror and dashed themselves below. 
Hundreds of muskets were scattered about, as well as other mu- 
nitions of war. None of our soldiers, nor ever the camp followers, 
could gather up the booty, for right across the Potomac any num- 
ber of muskets would send their leaden messengers over at the 
first sign of a living thing. The enemy for the same reason could 
not cross, our sharpshooters being on the hill. To the dead it 
mattered not; neither "war nor rumors of war" could harm 
them further; but to the wounded it was fearful agony to lie 
there alone unattended and dying within sight of their friends. 
Several prisoners started to help some who seemed to be suffer- 
ing terribly, when the warning voice of their own officer across 
the river was heard, ordering us to keep on our journey and not 
linger. 

A ten minutes' walk took us away from the scene of panic and 
blood, where we found our advance-guard. 

"In what condition is the army?" we inquired anxiously, afraid 
almost to hear the answer. 

"Is it scattered, demoralized?" 



3o8 JOHNNY re;b and bii,i,y yank 

"O, Uncle Robert and his boys are all right," they replied. 

Then we were thankful. Though the bright dreams of North- 
ern conquest, of marching in triumphant array through Wash- 
ington, Baltimore and New York were not to be gratified this 
time, yet the "army all right" we could afford to be patient ; and 
accepting the good, ceased to grieve over the bad. 

We met Colonel W. H. F. Lee, commanding the cavalry, at 
tliat point, and by him were ordered to keep together and report 
at Winchester. We obeyed orders for some time, but the men 
began to drop out and wander wheresoever their wills led them. 

Many of the houses along the route harbored wounded soldiers of 
both armies, who had been unable to stand the dangers of an 
ambulance journey to Winchester. 

As the column journeyed on, it dwindled away at every step ; 
some wanting to get furloughs and return home at once, started 
in a business-like way for Winchester; others took their liberty 
more leisurely and sauntered along as if they had a hundred years 
in which to make the trip; others, and by far the majority, went 
to some neighboring homestead to revive the inner man and to 
rest. 

Our little squad of two, representing the Seventeenth, wan- 
dered a mile or two from the turnpike to get out of the imme- 
diate army trail, and stopped at a large mansion; on our ap- 
proach the host, an old gentleman, came out and opened wide his 
doors "on hospitable thoughts intent." 

After a good dinner he told us he had as guest a prisoner, a 
wounded Yankee, who had been left behind after undergoing a 
severe surgical operation ; and he added, the man was the great- 
est original it had ever been his pleasure to meet. Then he took 
the party in and introduced us to the invalid. 

A dark, thin-visaged man of about thirty lay smoking a pipe 
and reading a novel. He threw his book aside and apologized 
for not rising, as his leg had been cut ofif by the surgeon only ten 
days previously; and he was as nonchalant about the fearful 
maiming as if he had only lost the joint of his little finger. 

He proved to be one of the most accomplished conversation- 
alists that I had ever listened to, though he never spoke of him- 
self save in a general manner. Of his life and its under- 
lying mystery none could tell ; but that his career had been 
checquered and eventful, none could doubt. A sailor, his tat- 
tooed arm showed that; a traveler in foreign climes, a soldier 
under Garibaldi with the mark of a sabre cut across his forehead; 



PAROIvlCD 309 

a gentleman through all, as was evidenced by that indefinable air 
of good breeding which, when not innate, can never be acquired; 
altogether he proved as great an enigma as he was an attraction. 
The charm of his voice and manner were such that it deepened 
every hour, and of the garnered gleanings of his well-stored, cul- 
tured mind one could hardly tire. By what strange chance he 
had been influenced to join the Northern Army as private in the 
ranks we never learned. 

After a leisurely saunter the squad reached Winchester, where 
thousands of the stragglers were assembled ; they were then 
fitted out in new uniforms and (thanks to the gods!) new brogans, 
and returned to their regiments; and within a week Lee's army 
was stronger than when it marched into Maryland. 

Of all the battles of the war, the privates of the ranks were 
proudest of that of Sharpsburg, for it had been essentially their 
fight; it had been a contest wherein the individual prowess of 
the rank and file saved the day ; it had been a hard stand-up, face- 
to-face, hand-to-hand affair, a battle wherein skeleton regiments 
and brigades, half starved and foot-sore, had held their own 
against the finest, best equipped army ever formed in the New 
World, and under a leader who V\^as the idol of his soldiery. 

The failure at Sharpsburg can easily be traced to that vice 
which more than any other saps the vitality of an army and de- 
stroys its efficiency, the vice of straggling; it is almost as much 
to he deprecated as desertion, though in that instance the evil 
had been pardonable, for thousands of the men were barefooted, 
starving and sick. 

It is no exaggeration to say that during the advance into Mary- 
land forty out of every hundred wandered from their commands 
into the adjacent country ; many of these were shirkers, cowards 
and skulkers, who took every opportunity to slip away and avoid 
danger, yet when obliged to go into action made good soldiers. 

General McClellan had printed handbills distributed by thou- 
sands among his troops, before the Battle of Sharpsburg. They 
bore the date September loth, 1862, and contained an order against 
straggling, and a stringent order too. 

"No soldier," so ran the paper, ''should under any circum- 
stances leave his place in the line. If he be incapable from any 
cause of keeping up, the officer commanding his company should 
place him in the care of the ambulance corps. Should an able- 
bodied man leave ranks without orders and become a straggler, 
he will be tried by a drum-head court martial and shot. The 



3IO JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

company and regimental officers are ordered to make returns 
to the adjutant-general, and account satisfactorily for every miss- 
ing soldier." 

The following letter, printed in the Savannah Republican, was 
written by the most famous of the Southern war correspondents, 
Percy W. Alexander, and pictured in graphic language the deeds 
and needs of the Army of Northern Virginia. 

"Conditions of the Southern Army, 1862. 

"Winchester, (Va.) Sept. 26th — My condition is such as to 
render it impossible for me to rejoin the army for the present. 
I was not prepared for the hardships, exposure and fastings the 
army has encountered since it left the Rappahannock, and like 
many a seasoned campaigner have had to 'fall out by the way.' 
Indeed I can recall no parallel instance in history, except Na- 
poleon's disastrous retreat from Moscow, where an army has 
ever done more marching and fighting under such great disad- 
vantages than General Lee's has done since it left the banks of 
the James River. 

"This army proceeded directly to the line of the Rappahannock, 
and moving out from that river fought its way to the Potomac, 
crossed the stream, and moved on to Frederick and Hagerstown ; 
and a heavy engagement at Boonsboro Gap and another at 
Crampton's Gap below; fought the greatest pitched battle of 
the war at Sharpsburg, and then recrossed the Potomac into Vir- 
ginia. During all this time, covering the full space of a month, 
the troops rested but four days. And let it be remembered to 
their honor, that of the men who performed this wonderful feat 
one-fifth of them were barefooted; one-half of them in rags, and 
the whole of them half famished. The country from the Rappa- 
hannock to the Potomac had been visited by the enemy with fire 
and sword and our transportation was insufficient to keep the 
army supplied from so distant a base as Gordonsville ; and when 
provision trains would overtake the army, so pressing were the ex- 
igencies of their position, the men seldom had time to cook their 
rations. Their difficulties were increased by the fact that cooking 
utensils in many cases had been left behind, as well as everything 
else which would impede their movements ; it was not unusual to see 
a company of starving men have a barrel of flour distributed to 
them, which it was utterly impossible for them to convert into 
bread with the means and the time allowed them ; they could 



PAROIvED 311 

not procure even a piece of plank or a corn or flower sack upon 
which to work the dough. 

"Do you wonder then that there should have been stragglers, 
that brave and true men should have fallen out from sheer ex- 
haustion in their efforts to obtain a mouthful to eat along the road- 
side?" 

The Richmond Whig, in an editorial dated October 21, 1862, 
says : 

"We again return to the subject of the condition of the Army 
of Northern Virginia, which we discussed at some length in our 
issue of yesterday. As we remarked in the conclusion of our last 
article, the Government has begun to move in the matter of furnish- 
ing supplies to the troops, and several wagons loaded with shoes 
and clothing had reached Winchester as early as the middle of 
last week. We understand that other shipments of clothes, shoes 
and perhaps blankets have been made to the same destination. 
These supplies will afford great relief as far as they go, and we 
only regret that they are not ample enough to meet the wants of 
the entire army. Much good will be accomplished, however, if 
even a portion of our ragged and barefooted defenders have shoes 
put upon their feet and clothing upon their backs. Many of 
them have not changed their clothing since they left Richmond; 
they have slept in it, fought in it, crossed the Potomac in it, 
marched over dusty roads and through storm and sunshine in it, 
yet they have not changed it or washed it because they had no 
other to put on when that was taken off. The reader will not be 
surprised to hear, therefore, that many of the troops are covered 
v/ith vermin and their clothing rotten and dirty beyond anything 
they have ever seen. There is no negro in Virginia who is not 
better off in this respect than some of the best soldiers and first 
gentlemen in all the land." 

Colonel Freemantle, of the English Army, on a tour of inspec- 
tion, in speaking of this battle, writes to the Edinburgh Review 
and Blackzvood's Magazine as follows : 

"In the line of march, returning from Sharpsburg, were many 
rich landed proprietors marching contentedly along with an old 
tattered flannel shirt and a pair of ragged Yankee uniform 
trousers for their only clothing, while their feet bled at almost 
every step they took." 



312 JOHNNY RDB and BILLY YANK 

A short while and the Army of Northern Virginia was in its 
glory again; each soldier in the First Brigade was furnished 
from top to toe; and there was a grand review held on the plains 
near Winchester. Of this grand pageant Colonel Freemantle 
writes : 

"I have seen many armies in my time file past in all the pomp of 
bright uniforms and well-protected accoutrements, but I never 
saw one composed of finer men or that looked more like work 
than that portion of General Lee's army which I was fortunate 
tc see inspected." 

General Lee was once asked by a lady of what battle he was 
most proud. He replied: 

"Of Sharpsburg, for I fought against greater odds ; and then, 
he added, stroking meditatively his long, thick beard, "to the rank 
and file all the credit of that day belongs." 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

FREDERICKSBURG. 

In a few weeks the paroled prisoners having been exchanged, 
were ordered back to their commands. By that time the army 
had retreated, all unmolested, through the valley of Piedmont, 
Virginia; had massed at Warrenton and then taken up the line 
of march to Fredericksburg. The rations were ample, the cloth- 
ing warm and the morale of the army was excellent. 

In those two months the two great armies had exactly re- 
versed posts on the programme ; the Rebels had ceased attack- 
ing and were acting on the defensive, and their foe, no longer 
anxious about the safety of their National Capital, but strong in 
numbers and flushed with the hope of putting a speedy end to 
the war, had become the assailants; were ready to try conclu- 
sions once more, and determined to force the fighting. The 
scene had changed from the green fields of Maryland to the 
heights along the Rappahannock ; the summer breeze which had 
swept over the field of Sharpsburg was now the keen, searching 
blast which carried frost upon its wings; the leaves which had 
danced in the sunshine were strewing the ground thickly in their 
dying. 

"Rustling to the eddying winds, 
And to the rabbit's tread." 

On November the seventh, McClellan, the organizer of the 
army (and its savior too), was relieved from command and Burn- 
side appointed in his place. 

General Burnside differed from all his predecessors in one im- 
portant matter of opinion : McDowell, McClellan and Pope had 
all expressed their convictions that the rout of the Rebel army 
should be the great desideratum ; Burnside, on the contrary, con- 
tended that the capture of Richmond was ever the great object 
to be desired, and with that idea fully ingrained in his mind he 
determined to march in a straight line from Washington to Rich- 
mond and capture the Rebel Capital. 

Putting his columns in motion, he reached the banks of the 
Rappahannock opposite Fredericksburg on the seventeenth of 
November, but was delayed for two weeks by the failure of the 



314 JOHNNY REB AND BILIyY YANK 

I)ontoons to arrive; this delay was fatal, for at the end of that 
time Lee had taken up his position and stood directly in his path. 

Fredericksburg is a quiet, sleepy little town, looking like New 
Amsterdam when the redoubtable Van Twiller was its Governor 
nearly tw^o hundred years ago ; it rests upon the branch of the 
river which, with a general course northeast to southeast, makes 
a sharp bend a mile above Fredericksburg and for some distance 
runs between the heights upon either side ; those on the east fall 
steeply to the river bank; on the west the hills in the rear of the 
town rise about a mile from the river and then trend away until 
they sink into the valley of the Massaponax six miles iDelow. leav- 
ing an irregular plain some two miles wide in its broadest part. 
Westward the hills rise by a succession of low, wooded ridges 
until they are lost in the wooded region known as the Wilderness. 

On the crest of these ridges lay the half of Lee's army under 
Longstreet. D. H. Hill was posted at Port Royal twenty miles 
down the river: between them lay Jackson, ready to support either 
v/ing. 

Burnside had determined to cross near or at Fredericksburg^ 
and December the eleventh had been the time appointed for the 
attempt. His plan was to throw three bridges across at Freder- 
icksburg and then move at a point three miles below. 

The attempt to lay the upper bridges was savagely resisted 
by Barksdale's brigade of Mississippians, and for a time delayed, 
but they were brushed away at last, and the work finished. 
The whole day of the twelfth was spent in getting the men 
over, thus giving Lee time to bring up Jackson's corps. It was 
no part of Lee's plan to dispute the passage, as he wished to 
receive the attack on his strong position. The extreme Rebel 
left above Fredericksburg was protected by a mill-pond, sluice- 
way and canal, the bridge having been destroyed; and here the 
attack could only be made upon Marye's Hill, which rises steeply 
a little behind Fredericksburg. 

On the thirteenth General Burnside had in line of battle over 
one hundred thousand men, besides a heavy reserve of some 
twenty thousand on the other side. Lee's strength was about 
seventy-five thousand. (Official Report of Major-General Burn- 
side.) 

The attack was made all along the line but early repulsed. 
Burnside tried to break the Rebel line by repeated and contin- 
uous charges upon Marye's Hill, but was driven back each time 
with fearful carnage. 



fre;dericksburg 315 

Finding his efforts futile, he abandoned the attempt and the 
next night retreated, re-crossing his pontoons and leaving twelve 
thousand two hundred and fifty men behind him in killed and 
wounded and missing. (Report of Adjutant-General of Army of 
Potomac. ) 

The Rebel loss was five thousand three hundred and nine. 

Our brigade was not actively engaged during the day ; indeed 
not a third part of the army was in the fight; we were held as a 
reserve, and witnessed the attack on our left. 

We lay on our arms the night of the twelfth, listening to the 
noise made by the enemy in crossing. The Seventeenth was full 
in ranks again, and was looking very differently from tlie slim, 
weak line that was crouching behind the fence in the last battle. 

The morning of Saturday, December thirteenth, broke with a 
heavy fog resting in the valley and hiding each army from 
the other; as the sun rose, the thick vapor slowly lifted from the 
ground, unfolding a splendid display, as in a group we stood on 
the crest of the hill on the right and in the rear of Marye's Hill, 
watching with absorbing interest the panorama. 

Across the river on the lofty heights could be seen the Stars 
and Stripes floating in the wind; the earthworks with their huge 
guns were outlined against the sky; at our feet lay the ancient 
town of Fredericksburg, filled with the blue-coats, who seemed 
to swarm like bees in a hive, as in large bodies they marched out 
and took positions. 

About ten in the morning the battle opened on our right, A. P. 
Hill's division receiving the attack and beating back the enemy, 
while all the time the Yankee batteries on the heights were keeping 
up a continuous fire. 

Then came the charge on Marye's Hill. Had the enemy known 
against what he was running he would never have made such a 
hopeless effort, or one that involved such a sacrifice of life. 
Marye's Hill is about fifty yards high and slopes abruptly to- 
ward the city to a stone wall which forms a terrace on the side 
of the hill and the outer margin of a road which winds along its 
foot leading to Hamilton Crossing. The road is about twenty- 
five feet wide and is faced by a stone wall some four feet high on 
the side nearest the city. Standing on Marye's Hill such is the 
sudden slope that the road at its foot is not discernible; the 
house, a handsome old Virginia residence, is built on the top of 
the hill facing Fredericksburg, with a long, wide porch extending 
the length of the house in front ; beneath the roof was born and 



3l6 JOHNNY REB AND BII,LY YANK 

reared the colonel of our regiment who had been so severely 
wounded in the Second Battle of Manassas. Once the scene of hos- 
pitality and that courtly elegance found in the old families of Vir- 
ginia, it was now dismantled and awaited the fate which seemed in 
store. The once large family which had gathered within its walls 
was scattered, as were the residents of but too many Southern 
homes ; the large lawn bounded by the stone wall and sunken 
road in front lay stripped of all the grand old trees which for- 
merly contributed so much toward the beauty of the place; 
standing on the porch, one could trace the winding of the road 
from the town, rising till it passed at right angles the stone wall 
road and met on the left of the lawn the "Brompton Gate" (for 
that was the name by which the place had ever been known), from 
which a broad carriage-drive led to the entrance overlooking the 
town. 

The crest of Marye's Hill was now crowned by two batteries of 
artillery, while about fifty guns were placed a half mile back to 
enfilade all the approaches, which must be made in an open plain 
over three hundred yards wide. The sunken road, like the ditch 
of a fortress, afforded complete protection and perfect security to 
the troops within. Kershaw's division occupied this cut, stand- 
ing in double ranks, or four deep. 

What chance had flesh and blood to carry by storm such a po- 
sition, garrisoned too as it was with veteran soldiers? Not one 
chance in a million. 

In company with Bob Willis, we straggled to the front and lay 
in the rear of the Washington Artillery of New Orleans, which 
hurled grape and canister at the attacking force. All that day 
we watj:hed the fruitless charges, with their fearful slaughter, until 
we were sick at heart. 

As I witnessed one line swept away by one fearful blast from 
Kershaw's men behind the stone wall, I forgot they were enemies 
and only remembered that they were men, and it is hard to see 
in cold blood brave men die. 

Just before sunset, everything being quiet along the line, many 
of the reserve, without orders, crowded to the front and were 
spectators of that last forlorn hope led by the gallant Hum- 
phries. In front was Meagher's brigade of Irishmen, who 
marched to their death like men who knew no fear. 

"They cared little for shot or shell, 

They laughed at death and dangers. 
And they'd storm the very gates of hell, 
Would the gallant Irish rangers." 



FREDERICKSBURG 317 

History records no more dauntless, valorous advance than the 
reckless charge of Meagher. Every soldier knew the Rebel 
position was impregnable; they had seen charge after charge re- 
pulsed, they had seen brigade after brigade rush forward with 
deadly determination, only to recoil before the hailstorm of iron 
and of lead ; their very route lay over a field where the dead lay 
thick "as the leaves in Vallombrosa;" and yet not an Irishman in 
the brigade, as far as we could see, left his place in the ranks. 

From the hill back of the heights the division of Pickett 
watched the advance, filled with wonder and a pitying admiration 
for men who could rush with such unflinching valor, such mad 
recklessness into the jaws of destruction. 

"A brave man dies but once, a coward dies a thousand times." 
None of the bitterness of death was theirs, as with steady step 
and heads erect they came toward that bristling crest so om- 
inously silent. Across the plain, with no martial music to thrill 
them, only a stillness that would strike terror into spirits less 
gallant — across the plain still onward sweeps the dauntless bri- 
gade with serried lines and gleaming steel. 

It was superb ! 

Still closer they advanced, while twice one thousand veterans 
lay behind yon stone wall, with eyes ranged along the deadly 
barrel and fingers pressing the trigger. 

Men held their breath. 

There was no smoke or battle-fume to obstruct the view, nor 
wood to mask the movement ; but as in a grand review, the 
whole advance could be seen in all its glory and in all its horror. 

The brigade came on a run, and bent as it moved until it was 
the shape of a half moon with the concave toward the town. 
Batteries opened upon them ; and then broke out the murderous 
musketry. Men staggered, reeled and fell, but the others pushed 
on. From the wall and road came a living sheet of fire, still the 
Irish rushed forward; but at every foot they dropped by scores; 
some almost reached the wall and then fell dead with their feet 
to the foe; human nature could stand no more, for the number 
of killed was fast counting up by thousands, and half of them were 
down ; the ranks broke and each man sought safety in flight. 

Another solid line emerged to support the first, but did not 
advance half the distance before it went to pieces under the fire ; 
in fifteen minutes the battle was all over. The ground was covered 
with the fallen, three thousand, and the Battle of Fredericksburg 
was ended. ("Of the 1,200 I lead into action only 280 appeared 



3l8 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

at parade the next morning.'' Brigadier-General Meagher's Offi- 
cial Report.) 

Never in the annals of grand exploits has this charge ever 
been surpassed. Tradition has thrown a halo of romance over 
Arthur and his Knights, poetry has enshrined in imperishable 
lustre the charge of the six hundred at Balaklava, but greater 
than this last was Meagher's advance ; for a man's courage 
is in ratio with his motion. It is far easier to ride to the death 
with the shrill blare of the bugle ringing in the ears, rushing on 
in a wild excitement which keeps up with the mad gallop of the 
bounding horse; but to advance step by step with unloaded gims, 
to leave the world with the blood beating temperately in the 
veins, required courage indeed. Ireland may well have wept for 
her sons that day, but the Cypress was twined with Laurel. 

The butchery over, and night came; another day and toward 
evening ammunition (forty rounds) was served out. There was 
little rest among the troops, for they were expecting to advance; 
the dawn found the men bewildered and dazed ; why had they 
not gone forward and taken the Federals in the trap. 

Ah, why indeed ! 

The Army of the Potomac was caught in a trap, caged as it 
were, within a narrow space from which there was no escape. 
There was the little town crowded and packed with men, a rapid 
river in their rear, across which was only a frail line of pontoons 
as useless in this hour of emergency as Mahomet's Bridge from 
Earth to Paradise. There lay the enemy with our artillery com- 
manding every exit, and ready at a moment's notice to throw 
into the town, among the mass of soldiers, shell and shot from 
nearly a hundred guns. 

Well might the Northern army have feared. What could they 
have done if this tempest had rained upon them? Advance was 
impossible; retreat equally so; all that would have remained for 
them wound have been to stand and die in their tracks or to sur- 
render. 

The nights of the thirteenth and fourteenth of December were 
indeed pregnant with the fate of the two contending people. 
Was there no voice in earth or sky to whisper into the ear of 
the sleeping Captain, the man with the gray beard and the eagle 
eye, and bid him wake and strike? 

No, the minutes come and go. The wind sweeps over the 
bare plains, chilling the wounded and freezing his blood as it 
drips slowly from his veins ; it brings no echo of the faintest 



FREDERICKSBURG 319 

footfall of the fast flying army; the guns upon the hills that 
might have uttered a protest with tongues of flame seemed to be 
as deep in slumber as the men beside them. 

Still the minutes come and go, when every second is precious 
and only the stars see the hurrying ranks of blue, filing in almost 
frenzied haste over the pontoons, with army blankets piled ten 
deep to muffle the rapid tread of feet and the rumbling of the 
artillery over the swaying bridge. 

So the precious moments are accumulating into hours, while 
the vanquished host steals noiselessly away man by man, company 
by company, regiment by regiment, brigade by brigade, division 
by division, corps by corps, all traversing the narrow way unmo- 
lested, winning safety by degrees. 

At last, when the northern light heralded the dawn and roused 
the quiet Rebel army, it saw the rear-guard of their foe file across 
the bridge and the foe was safe. 

Had General Lee opened all his guns in the night and charged 
with his infantry — then — then ! 

Well, the privates around the camp-fire thought their hour of 
victory had come at last; from that hour to this day they could 
not understand why "Uncle Robert" let the chance slip and did 
not allow them to end the war there with one bold rush. 

Jackson, with the inspiration of genius, wanted to advance in 
the night; he expected and made his preparations in event of 
the repulse of Burnside. General Lindsay Walker, his Chief-of- 
Artillery, told me that when he opened his guns and ordered his 
horses to the rear, Jackson rode up and ordered him to let the 
horses stay. "But, General,'' said the tall artilleryman, "half of 
the horses will be killed." "No matter," curtly responded Stone- 
wall, "keep them with the guns." 

The horses were kept as directed, in all the terrible fire, 
"Which," said General Walker, "showed me that Jackson intended 
to advance that night." 

Like Napoleon at Leipsic, Lee let a golden chance slip by. His 
medical director. Doctor Hunter McGuire, states that Jackson 
asked him on the night of the battle how many rolls of cotton 
bandages and compresses he had in stock, and upon the doctor 
replying that there was enough for the wounded, Jackson impa- 
tiently replied that he supposed he had, but he wanted to know 
if there was enough to tie around the arm of every soldier in his 
command. Later on Tackson admitted to him that it was his 



320 JOHNNY REB AND BlhL,Y YANK 

purpose to make a night attack with both his artillery and in- 
fantry. 

In his official account of the battle General Kershaw, who with 
Cobb's Georgia and Ransom's North Carolina brigades repulsed 
during the day every attack of the enemy, and especially Meagh- 
er's great charge, says : "Marye's Hill, covered with our batter- 
ies, then occupied by the Washington Artillery, falls off abruptly 
toward Fredericksburg to a stone wall which forms a terrace on 
the side of the telegraph road which winds along the foot of the 
hill; this road is about twenty-five feet wide and is faced by a 
stone wall about four feet high on the city side; the road having 
been cut out of the side of the hill in many places, is not visible 
above the surface of the ground; the land falls off rapidly to al- 
most a level surface which extends to about 150 yards, then with 
another abrupt fall of a few feet to another plain which extends 
some 200 yards, and then falls off abruptly to a wide ravine. 
I found on my arrival that Cobb's brigade occupied our entire 
front, and that my troops could only get into position by doub- 
ling on them ; this was accordingly done, and the foundation 
along the line during the engagement was four deep. As an 
evidence of the coolness of the command I may mention here 
that notwithstanding their fire was the most rapid and con- 
tinuous I ever witnessed, not a man was injured by the fire of his 
comrades. Under cover of his artillery fire a most formidable 
column of attack was formed, and emerging from the ravine im- 
petuously assailed our whole front. The attack was continuous, 
some few officers and men got within 30 yards of our lines, but 
in every instance their column was shattered by the time they 
got within one hundred paces." (Reb. Records, Vol. 21, p. 590.) 

It was just before this charge that General Lee, anxious about 
his center, rode up to Marye's Heig'hts, and after a long examina- 
tion with his field-glass turned to General Longstreet and said : 

''Those people are throwing their whole weight on this point; 
do you think you can hold the position without reinforcement?" 

"General," answered the corps commander, "every inch of the 
ground is so covered by guns and musketry that a chicken could 
not live to reach that sunken road." ("Battles and Leaders of the 
Civil War.") 

Colonel Stephens, of the 13th N. H. Infantry, who acted as re- 
serve and witnessed the successive charges on Marye's Heights, 
reports under date of December 22nd, 1862: 

"As yet all the accounts that I have seen or read from Union 



FREDERICKSBURG 321 

or Rebel sources approach not in delineation the truthful and 
terrible panorama of that day. Twice during the day I rode up 
Caroline Street to the center of the city toward the point where 
our brave legions were struggling against the terrible concen- 
tration of the enemy's artillery and infantry, whose unremitting 
fire shook the earth and filled the plain in the rear of the city with 
the deadly missiles of war. I saw the struggling hosts of free- 
dom stretched along the plain, their ranks ploughed by the merci- 
less fire of the foe; I listened to the roar of battle and groans of 
the wounded and dying ; I saw in the crowded hospitals the deso- 
lation of war, but I heard from our brave soldiers no note of 
triumph, no word of encouragement, no syllable of hope that for 
us a field was to be won. In the stubborn, unyielding resistance 
of the enemy I could see no point of pressure likely to yield to the 
repeated assaults of our brave soldiers. For three-quarters of an 
hour before we were ordered into action. I stood in front of my 
regiment on the brow of the hill and watched the fire of the Rebel 
batteries as they poured shot and shell from sixteen different 
points upon our devoted men on the plains below. It was a sight 
magnificently terrible. Every discharge of the enemy's artillery 
and every explosion of his shells was visible in the dusky twilight 
of that smoke-crowned hill. There his direct and enfilading bat- 
teries, with a vividness, intensity and almost the rapidity of light- 
ning, hurled the messengers of death in the midst of our brave 
ranks vainly struggling through the murderous fire to gain the 
hills and the guns of the enemy. Nor was it a straggling or ill- 
directed fire ; the arrangements of the enemy's guns were such 
that they could pour their concentrated and incessant fire upon 
any point occupied by our assailing troops, and all of them were 
fired with the greatest skill and precision. During all of this 
time the rattle of musketry was incessant. Then came an order 
for our brigade to fall in ; silently but unflinchingly the men 
moved out from their cover, and when the line was formed, 
started in a run, and the pace was so rapid that many of the men 
relieved themselves of their blankets and haversacks. The words 
'Forward! charge!' rang out, we crossed the railroad and low 
muddy swamp on the left, all the time the enemy concentrating 
their terrible fire by batteries and pouring it in on our advancing 
line. Suddenly the cannonading and musketry of the enemy 
ceased. The shouts of our men were also hushed, and nothing 
was heard along the line save the command. 'Forward, men ! 
close up! steady!' In this manner we continued to advance 
21 



I •■ 



2^22 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

in the direction of the enemy's batteries until we got within 20 
yards of the celebrated stone wall. Behind that wall, and in rifle- 
pits on its flanks, were posted the enemy's infantry, according to 
their statement, four ranks deep, and on the hill a few yards above 
lay in ominous silence their death-dealing artillery. It was while 
we were moving steadily forward that with one startling crash, 
with one simultaneous sheet of fire and flame they hurled on our 
advancing lines the whole terrible force of their infantry and ar- 
tillery fire. The powder from their musketry seemed to burn in 
our very faces, and the breath of their artillery was hot upon our 
cheeks ; the leaden rain and iron hail in an instant forced back 
the advancing lines upon those who were close to them in the 
rear, and before the men could be rallied to renew the charge the 
lines had been hurled back by the irresistible fire of the enemy 
to the cover of the ravine or gully which they had just passed. 
The enemy swept the grounds with their guns, killing and wound- 
ing many. Of the three brigades participating in that charge, 
in the space of a few minutes the awful loss was 1,226 lying 
on the field." (Reb. Records, Vol. 21, pp. 341-342.) 

Burnside. from his post of vantage in the belfry of the Court 
House, seemed to have gone mad in this carnival of death. When 
French's division withered away he sent his aide. Colonel Taylor to 
Hancock to "put everything in." In his frantic desire to carry 
the heights he sent in successively the divisions of French, Han- 
cock, Howard, Sturgis, Birney, Grififin and Humphries — in all 
20 brigades or 102 regiments. Of the thousands who rushed 
for that fatal stone wall with desperate determination, not one 
reached it alive. It will never be known how many times the 
Union troops made the attack. Their advance was like the bil- 
lows breaking into atoms on a rock. The last charges were 
feeble, for the troops had to push their way over the prostrate 
lines of their comrades who were first sent in. and who, after being 
repulsed, had thrown themselves flat on the ground to escape 
the scathing, pitiless fire that swept the plain. 

Many brigade official reports speak of these prostrate sol- 
diers begging their advancing line to retreat, even going so far 
as to grasp the legs of the men of the moving column and pre- 
vent them obeying orders. From a thousand throats would come 
the cry, "Go back, go back ! It's certain death to advance !" and 
ihe piles of dead gave fearful emphasis to the cry. 

In a space of four hundred yards by about eight hundred 
yards lay the bodies of thousands. The OfHcial Records show that 



FREDERICKSBURG 323 

these seven divisions lost in killed and wounded in their attack on 
Marye's Hill 8,789 men. (Reb. Records, Vol. 21, pp. 129-137.) 

The regiment that went the farthest, dared the most and died with 
their feet touching the stone wall was the Sixty-ninth New York, of 
Meagher's Irish Brigade. The following is the report of Capt. 
James Saunders, Commanding the Regiment : 

"Camp near Falmouth, Va., Dec. 22, 1862. 
"In compliance with general orders I hereby certify that the 
Sixty-ninth New York Vols, entered the battle of Fredericksburg 
on Dec. 13, 1862, with 18 commissioned officers and 210 rank 
and file, in which they lost 16 commissioned officers and 160 rank 
and file, leaving me, Lieuts. Milliken and Brennen, to bring the 
remnant (52 men) off the battle-field." (Reb. Records, Vol. 21, p. 

251-) 

Ah! They were men! those lads of Sixty-ninth. In that 
olden and glorious time we Rebs would have taken off our hats 
and bowed low before the survivors of that gallant regiment, the 
bravest of the brave. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE CONFEDERATE STATES OE AMERICA. 

"The Confederate States of America." That is how the sol- 
diers of Lee's army headed their letters in the last days of the 
old year of 1862. Their cause seemed on the eve of triumph; 
everything was going their way; the army had learned to con- 
sider itself invincible ; Bull Run, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, The 
Seven Days' Battles, Harper's Ferry, Crampton's Gap, Boons- 
boro, Antietam, and Fredericksburg they looked upon as victor- 
ies. The Rebels could not bring themselves to think that any 
army could keep long at the game of hammering the uncracked, 
imbroken anvil. Encircled by the rim of fire, the Confederacy 
had held its own except that New Orleans and Norfolk had fallen, 
but their occupation by the enemy had nothing to do with the 
general result. 

If the end of the year found the Southerners jubilant, it was 
anything but a time of happy portent to the Northerners. The 
war was proving a serious business to them. The novelty and 
excitement had worn of¥, "the old flag furore," as Mr. Seward 
expressed it, had died away. The cost of carrying on the con- 
flict was enormous. Volunteering had ceased and a general con- 
scription law was being forced through Congress ; many weak- 
kneed patriots were lifting up their voices ; their grand army 
was in a bad condition. Scott, McDowell, McClellan, Pope and 
Burnside, — five changes in a little more than one year, and each 
change was from bad to worse. 

The feelings of the North were voiced by Quartermaster-Gen- 
eral Meigs, a man closer to the Administration than any one else. 
In a personal letter to General Burnside shortly after the Battle 
of Fredericksburg, urging him imperatively to advance, he says : 

''In my position as Quartermaster-General of the Army, much 
is to be seen that is seen from no other standpoint of the army. 
Every day's consumption of your army is an immense destruc- 
tion of the natural and monetary resources. The country begins 
to feel the eft'ect of this exhaustion and I begin to apprehend a 
catastrophe. 

"General Halleck tells me that you believe your numbers great- 
er than the enemy's and yet the army waits. So long as you con- 



THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA 325 

suit your principal officers together the result will be that pro- 
verbially of councils of war. Every day weakens your army. 
Exhaustion steals over the country. Confidence and hope are 
dying. While I have been always sure that ultimate success must 
attend the cause of freedom, justice and government sustained by 
18,000,000, against that of oppression, perjury and treason, sup- 
ported by 5,000,000, I begin to doubt the possibility of main- 
taining the contest beyond this winter, unless the popular heart 
is encouraged by a victory on the Rappahannock. 

"What is needed is a great and overwhelming defeat of the 
Rebel army. Such a victory would be of incalculable value. It 
would place upon your head the wreath of immortal glory. It 
would place your name at the side of Washington's. 

"If by a march such as Napoleon made at Jena, or as Lee made 
his communications and interpose between him and Richmond, 
if you are successful he has no retreat. His army would be dis- 
persed and a greater portion would throw down its arms. The 
gallantry of the attack at Fredericksburg made amends for its 
ill success, and the soldiers were not discouraged by it. The 
people, when they understood, took heart again. But the slum- 
ber of the army since is eating into the vitals of the Nation. As 
day after day has gone by my heart has sunk, and I see greater 
peril to our nationality in the present condition of affairs than I 
have seen at any time during the struggle. Wash., D. C, Dec. 
30, 1862." (Reb. Records, Vol. 21, pp. 917-918.) 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

A I^ONG REST. 

After the Battle of Fredericksburg the fine weather, clear, cold 
and bracing, which we had been having, changed into a real 
Virginia winter, with a good deal of the Northern thrown in. It 
snowed, froze, thawed and rained by turns, with here and there 
bright days. All military operations were brought to a sudden 
close and both armies went into winter quarters. 

The First Brigade attached to Pickett's division was about 
two miles from Guiney's Station on the Richmond and Freder- 
icksburg Railroad. The camp of the Seventeenth was pitched in 
a pine woods well sheltered from the wind and with a good stream 
of water running near. As soon as the place was allotted each 
mess went to work to build cabins. There was no attempt at laid- 
out streets or parallel right-angle squares, but the houses were 
arranged haphazard according to the inspiration of the moment, 
and thrown together in higgledy-piggledy style, which would 
have made it necessary for a stranger socially inclined to employ 
a guide or strike off a camp directory. 

Every style of camp architecture was to be found, including 
hut, hovel, shack and shed, and every other plan of building that 
limited genius could devise. Officers and men messed together, 
therefore their style of tabernacle was no better than ours. 
Some energetic fellows worked like beavers and erected a good, 
substantial log-house, with fine-drawing chimney and canvas roof, 
snug, air-tight and rain-proof. These industrious bees had to 
submit to every kind of jibe and joke from the mocking drones 
for their pains. John Zimmerman and Mark Price took a week 
in constructing their hut ; indeed if they had intended spending 
the rest of their lives in it they could not have taken more pains 
with the spare means at hand. At last they finished it and a crowd 
assembled to see them take possession. 

''Look yonder," drawled a long, lazy Reb, with an air as if he 
had come from the good old State of North Carolina, as he sat 
in the sun with an axe in his hands which he was too lazy to use ; 
"jes' look a yonder, them boys is a buildin' a pallis ; ef they ain't 
I'll be doggoned." 



1 



A LONG REST 327 

"When are you going to send for the mason and plasterer?" 
asked another sitting near. 

"The decorator will be driving np soon," yelled an old Reb. 

"Don't forget the carpets and furniture," suggested the fourth. 
"Expect the President to come and see you, don't you?" 

By this time the crowd was watching the finishing touches 
with much interest, each man having his say. 

"The boss-plumber and his assistants have just come." And 
saluting, profoundly, the self-elected courier retired. 

"The stove and kitchen range will be here presently," said one 
confidentially to the rest. 

"I saw the piano coming with Uncle Robert's compliments as 
I left the depot," remarked another in a matter-of-fact tone. 

"Lor ! boys, stop yer fooling ; hear me ? He's going to have a 
pair of stone dogs on the porch, he is," exclaimed a bystander 
w hile his comrade made haste to chime in : "And a bay-window 
an' a observatory for flowers at each end, an' a fountain playin' 
before the door, and statues, and a brass knocker on that door, 
you bet." 

"Found a fortune? I tell you what, fellows, those boys have 
discovered a gold mine digging around these woods.'' And this 
old Reb emphasized his remarks with a prolonged whistle express- 
ive of admiring awe. 

"Say, mister, want a driver for your carriage? I'll milk your 
cow too and I'll feed your canary birds," volunteered one of the 
men, gravely touching his hat. 

"Got any room in that hotel for boarders," inquired a man, run 
ning up, "because General Lee has just sent word to know if he 
can board with you, him and his staff." 

The builders took it all patiently enough, working steadily 
on. One voice generally answered back: 

"All right ; you're having you're laugh now ; but wait till the 
snow comes, and you'll all be crowding in then." 

Some lazy soldiers, "born tired," did not even attempt to build, 
they merely put up an old tent, run a trench around it and 
erected a rude fire-place at one end. Others dug deep holes in 
the ground and roofed them over, proposing to hibernate like 
ground-squirrels. Again there were real Indian wigwams to be 
seen, only they had hearths and cheering fires. 

Some of the huts were large and roomy, holding a mess of a 
dozen comfortably; others were of a size capable of accommo- 
dating three or four, while here and there one would come across 



328 JOHNNY REB AND BII^IvY YANK 

a modern Diogenes in bis tub, or Soutbern Tbersites, wbo, re- 
tiring from buman sympatby and companionsbip, dug some hole 
or built some den in wliicb be proposed to drag out tbe winter 
by himself. 

The latter part of December was fearful ; a long rain followed 
the battle, then a hard, bitter freeze came. So intense was the 
cold that the men did nothing but cower over the fire piled high 
with wood night and day, or keep snugged up under blankets, 
which in such weather rose in value to a thousand dollars a square 
inch. The earth was frozen as hard as granite; the streams 
were solid ; indeed Ice-King held all nature in a relentless grasp. 

All drills, inspections and even guard-mountings were sus- 
pended during this freezing weather. A man hardly dared poke 
his nose out of the tent, except when obliged to go for wood and 
water and to draw his rations. 

Then came on a thaw for three or four days, with really warm 
weather, when everything melted ; when the streams burst their 
bonds ; when the earth became soft until it seemed to have no 
bottom and mud reigned supreme. It was everywhere; the roads 
were almost impassable and it was difficult to haul the rations 
to camp from the station. A detail of seventy-five was made from 
the Seventeenth to assist the brigade wagons back to camp. 

It was a cheerless task. The heavy army wagons came toiling 
laboriously along ; many became stalled in the mud, the wheels 
sunken below the hubs, horses straining, the drivers cursing and 
lashing the poor animals, while a dozen men pushed at each 
wheel, all and everything covered with the liquid mire; such was 
December in Virginia. 

The Christmas of 1862 was cheerless indeed; the weather was 
frightful and a heavy snow-storm covered everything a foot deep. 
Each soldier attempted to get a dinner in honor of the day, and 
those to whom boxes had been sent succeeded to a most re- 
spectable degree, but those unfortunates whose homes were out- 
side the lines had nothing whatever delectable partaking of 
the nature of Christmas. - Well ! it would have puzzled the 
divine Soyer himself to furnish a holiday dinner out of a pound 
of fat pork, six crackers and a quarter of a pound of dried apples. 
We all had apple dumplings that day, which with sorghum mo- 
lasses was not to be despised. 

Some of the men became decidedly hilarious, and then again 
some did not : not because they had recently joined the tem- 
perance society nor because they were opposed to the use of in- 



A LONG REST 329 

toxicating liquors, nor because they had promised their wives and 
sweethearts that they would not, but because Temptation did not 
assail them (though the assailing would have been on the other 
side if poor Temptation had had a drop), but because not a soul 
invited them to step up and partake. One mess in the Seven- 
teenth did not get so much as a smell during the whole of the holi- 
days ; and a dry, dismal old time it proved. 

We read in the Richmond papers of the thousands and thou- 
sands of boxes that had been passed en route to the army, sent 
by the ladies of Richmond and other cities, but few found their 
way to us. The greater part of them were for the troops from 
the far South who were too distant from their homes to receive 
anything from their own families. The Virginians were supposed 
to have been cared for by their own relatives and friends ; but 
some of them were not, as we all know. 

New Year came and there were but few calls made. Nobody 
kept open house; the observance being considered a Yankee fash- 
ion, the soldiers agreed to dispense with it ; notwithstanding, had 
any one opened his doors and received according to custom, with 
wines, liquors and refreshments, he would have received sixty 
thousand callers before night. 

Late in January a severe and continued snow-storm came on 
and covered the earth to a considerable depth, affording sleigh- 
ing if we had only had the teams. One evening, while the snow 
was lying hard and crisp upon the ground and the air was cool 
and bracing with a frosty nip in it which sent the blood tingling 
in the veins, the First Brigade, sitting around the cabin fires, 
heard all at once the old Rebel yell ringing out with a will. Rush- 
ing out they saw Toombs's Georgia Brigade not a hundred yards 
away, sweeping toward them in a regular line of battle, their 
haversacks filled with snow-balls and all shouting like mad. 

In an instant officers and men divined the situation. 

"Fall back, men!" the former shouted. "Fall back and rally by 
the colors!" And back they ran to the woods not far distant, while 
the colonel dispatched his aides to General Pickett for reinforce- 
ments. 

Through the camp came Toombs's men, capturing two or three 
hundred of the Seventeenth, whom they paroled on the spot and 
then kept on; in the meantime two companies of the Seven- 
teenth had been thrown out as skirmishers, to keep the Georgians 
back long enough for Kemper's brigade to form. The skirm- 
ishers did their best and accomplished their object, but they were 



330 JOHNNY REB and BIIvLY YANK 

captured to a man. Then came the shock of war, and the two 
brigades closed in snowy combat. All of the three Virginia regi- 
ments were in front, while Colonel Corse, with the Seventeenth, 
made a circuit and attacked in the rear. The struggle was ob- 
stinate and the snow-balls rained, or rather snowed, upon each 
line. The contest was waxing warm and blood began to flow 
from noses. The cautious and timid began to steal toward the 
rear. 

The Seventeenth, after making the circuit and getting behind 
the enemy, were just about to charge, when they discovered the 
startling fact that they had jumped from the frying-pan into the 
fire, for Wright's brigade of Georgians had now come up and 
caught them flagrante delicto. The Seventeenth, although be- 
tween two forces, made a gallant stand, but soon surrendered ; 
they could not stand the murderous snow. Colonel Corse, game 
to the last, shouted, "No surrender, boys! No surrender!" But 
he was pitched head foremost into a snow bank and two Geor- 
gians sat on him until he cried enough and yielded himself prisoner 
of war. 

But the triumph of the Georgians is short. Listen to the yells 
over there ! Here come in full tilt Armistead's and Hunton's bri- 
gades and Wright's command wheel to meet them, making a 
demi-curve right and left. Close fighting ensues ; and the pris- 
oners, being retaken, turn on their captors. It is nip and tuck ! 
But now Toombs's brigade gives ground ; their ammunition is ex- 
hausted, not a ball left in their haversacks, and they are too hard 
pressed to make more. The three brigades hem them in ; Hun- 
ton overlaps their right wing and takes them in the flank and 
rear. 

Kershaw's brigade advances and attacks. By this time the 
ranks of the Virginia Brigade are broken, owing to their rapid 
assault and the roughness of the ground, and before they can dress 
their line Kershaw bears down upon them. 

No authentic return of the loss in this battle was ever made to 
the Adjutant-General ; but considering the severity of the snow, 
it was surprisingly small. 

In the great battle the colors of the Georgians consisted of an old 
red undershirt; the Virginia banner was a pair of old gray breeches 
carried aloft on a pole. 

It is needless to say that all of the men covered themselves 
with glory and with snow. 

Nothing occurred to break the monotony of camp in this, the 



A LONG REST 331 

dreariest month of all the year, if we may except the regimental 
court martials, formed to try the soldiers for trivial offenses, prin- 
cipally for absence without leave. 

All were convicted or discharged by impartial judgment, but 
all were not punishable by the same methods. x\ broad line was 
drawn between the better class of privates (gentlemen, in fact) 
and those of a lower rank socially. The one had their pay stop- 
ped and were deprived of their two weeks' furlough, which pun- 
ishment was submitted to willingly. The latter class was con- 
demned to the ignominy of wearing a barrel shirt and of walking 
two hours each day on a beat, with a fence rail on their shoulders ; 
and these men, not being either thin-skinned or sensitive, carried 
their rail and drew their pay, well content to get off so easily. 

At first the men would laugh uproariously at such unfortunates, 
ask for the pattern and beg to know who was the tailor, and 
whether they had dressed to go courting, but when the novelty 
had worn off, took no further notice of them. Half a dozen could 
be seen at any time walking up and down under guard with all 
the solemnity of important duty. The barrel shirt was not hand- 
some by any means, fashionable as it afterwards came to be. It 
consisted of a flour barrel with the bottom knocked out and two 
armholes cut out on either side, after which the garment was 
ready for the wearer. Of course the presentation was comical 
enough as the genus were seen strolling up and down the beat, 
and at first sight utterly irresistible, but beyond being not very 
graceful in its outlines nor flowing in its drapery, it was found not 
so bad after all when one became accustomed to it. and then it 
was capable of a great deal of ornamentation, and suggestive of 
bread. 

About the middle of February and at a time when the mud 
was deepest, the sky dullest, the weather gloomiest, there came 
one of the most inexplicable military orders that ever puzzled 
the soldiers' brains or induced profanity. 

One bitter, bleak, cold day the long roll was beaten and the 
order given to pack haversacks and fall into ranks. 

"Where are we going?" asked the soldiers, pouring out of the 
cabin huts, wigwams, holes and dens, with no very blissful ex- 
pression upon their faces. 

But the officers did not know and could not even guess. 

"Shall we leave our cooking utensils and other property be- 
hind, for of course we are coming back?" we further asked of 
them. 



332 JOHNNY REB AND BII.I,Y YANK 

The colonel said "No !" orders were positive to take every- 
thing as we were to change position and make a long march." 

With a groan and a curse each man loaded himself down with 
his goods to the extent of his ability, and looked with sadness 
and unfeigned regret at the comfortable quarters which they were 
obliged to leave and at all the articles of winter menage which 
they could not carry away — to march in the depth of mid-winter, 
no one knew where. 

Early in the morning the brigade started up some road, 
whether north, south, east or west no one seemed to care. It 
began to snow and the large flakes beat straight in our faces. 
None could guess the direction we were going, and no man 
troubled himself to ask. The soldiers were silent ; and as they 
marched through the pine woods, already bending beneath their 
pure white burden, looked like a funeral cortege following some 
loved leader in grief too deep for words; or like a deaf mute col- 
lege taking an airing, rather than a body of troops on the march. 

All day steadily the tramp was kept up, and every hour the 
snow grew deeper and the walking more difficult. At last when 
it was dark we were halted and told to go into camp. Then came 
murmurs, grumbles, growls, snarls, maledictions, imprecations, 
fulminations. execrations, denunciations, anathemas and dam- 
nations ! all more thickly than the snow flakes. 

Camp, indeed ! Camping meant making ourselves comfortable 
with such help as roaring fires, the aroma of boiling coffee, the 
delicate odor of frying meat, and the solacing pipe. What was 
camp but a mockery, in a bare pine woods with no axes and only 
green pines and everything wet? 

And yet some managed to start a fire, though most of us failed, 
despite patience and perseverance. Scooping out a hole in the 
snow the soldiers lay down and tried to sleep ; but it was a cold 
sleep, or rather a half unconsciousness between sleep and waking, 
in which there were fleeting dreams of icebergs ; of being shut 
up in refrigerators to keep from spoiling : of being captured and 
locked up for safe keep in an ice-house : of being spun around 
in a mammoth ice cream freezer and of being impaled on the 
North Pole — all heavenly visions on a hot August night; but 
with the thermometer at zero such dreams were too much like 
reality for comfort. At such a time one could understand the re- 
ligious promptings of those Greenlanders to whom the- mission- 
ary went with account of what a very warm place old Satan's 
home is. "That." said they with one accord, "is the very place 



I 



A LONG REST 333 

for us ; that is where we want to go, we want fire." And the astute 
missionary, changing his tactics, preached of Gehenna's bitter cold, 
how whale blubber froze in chunks and how there were whole ice- 
bergs of oil ; then the Greenlanders repented. 

The morning disclosed a scene which would have induced the 
thriftiest New England farmer to feel like banging his door, going 
back to his fire and letting the cattle starve for one day. 

The snow lay fully a foot deep and the frosty air cut like a 
knife. Most of the men were without gloves and but few wore 
boots, consequently their sufferings were intense. They lay cov- 
ered by their blankets, not daring to turn for fear the snow would 
come into their hollows. Some fires were started with infinite 
difficulty and coft'ee was boiled. 

Then came the order to march. 

"Where?" 

"Why, right-face back to our quarters again." Of course 
the camp followers had cleared out our settlement ; had helped 
themselves to axes, pots, kettles, superfluous clothing, chairs, 
tables, canvas roofs and everything which could be put to any 
use. Had a vote been taken then and there among the men (as 
they stood and surveyed the ruins and added up their losses), 
whether or not the war should end in a surrender, from sheer dis- 
gust and exasperation that knew no bounds, the brigade would in 
all likelihood have voted aye, to a man. 

What military dunderhead we had to thank for this delectable 
manoeuvre we never found out, nor w^as its meaning ever explained. 

After this we remained in camp until the great spring move- 
ment commenced. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 
hood's men visit the theatre. 

Early in March the long roll called the men out of their warm 
holes into the line, and orders were read them to prepare to 
abandon winter quarters and to make ready for a long march. 

That e^■ening• saw Pickett's division on the tramp in the direc- 
tion of Richmond. Expectation was rife as to our destination ; 
maps were studied, predictions made, but none really guessed the 
truth. It was a toiling, tedious journey, for the roads were of 
course execrable at that season, and a more disagreeable march 
we never made. 

Reaching Richmond and resting one day, the division began to 
file slowly through the streets, and then commenced straggling 
the soldiers dropping out of ranks in spite of the most stringent 
orders. Every confectionery store would be crammed by the 
men darting out like so many children, to buy a cake or stick of 
candy. The officers halloed themselves hoarse, but the men 
icoiild, and there was an end of it. It was impossible to arrest 
tliem ; when any of the sentinels, whose duty it was to patrol the 
streets, would come up to one of the veterans and demand his 
pass, he was met with such a storm of ridicule and curses as made 
him glad to give them a wide berth. Most of the men wanted 
to spend the night in the city, intending to overtake their com- 
mands the next morning. 

It happened that Hood's brigade of Texans and Arkansans, as 
wild, daring, desperate a set as ever lived, were marching that night 
up Broad Street, passing the theatre just as the doors were 
opened to admit the rapidly gathering audience. The soldiers 
had been drinking, and were sauntering along to suit themselves, 
some in ranks and others keeping along the pavement. As the 
door swung backward and forward to admit the stream of people, 
revealing the brilliant lights, the temptation was too strong. A 
rush was made, and in a trice a company of soldiers w'ere pouring 
in just as they were, in full marching order, camping accoutre- 
ments and muskets. Some bought tickets because they had the 
money, but many not feeling any Confederate Promises-to-Pay 
concealed in the linings of their pockets, went in anyhow. 

What could the poor door-keeper do when the laughing, reckless. 



hood's men visit thk theatre 335 

armed soldiery, who had stormed far more redoubtable defenses, 
pushed their way into the hall? 

Simply nothing but hold up his hand in meek protest. In five 
minutes the whole pit was jammed with the Texans, the lights 
sparkling radiantly upon the polished barrels of their muskets 
and shining full upon their war-bronzed faces. They did not 
enter the galleries, dress circle, or boxes, which were soon filled 
with citizens, but were content to occupy only the place to which 
they had assigned themselves. 

With open and undisguised wonder they stared at the surround- 
ings, their naivete showing plainly to the amused observer that it 
was the first time they had e\'er been in a theatre. 

It was a war play, full of stirring incidents and to the highest 
degree melodramatic. It was called "The Virginia Cavalier." 

After a period of restless waiting the orchestra tuned up. The 
leader gave the signal and the music commenced. Slowly rose 
the curtain, disclosing to the enraptured gaze of the soldiers a 
lake upon whose rippling bosom floated a fairy-like craft. The 
moon was shining full upon the water, casting its mellow radiance 
upon a far lovelier maiden than tenderest dreams had ever pic- 
tured. Evidently she was keeping tryst, for she sat in the boat 
listening as intently as Ellen Douglas when she waited for the 
notes of Fitz James's bugle to break the sweet hour's stillness. 

At last the lover comes, and as she steps on land to greet him 
is enfolded in his warm embrace. Here followed a love scene. 

He is the Cavalier of the play and has come to bid her good-by 
before leaving for the war. Of course the parting was affecting ; 
thrilling them to the depths of their hearts. Many a tear-drop 
glistened and rolled down upon the rough faces. 

It was all real to these soldiers, and as the play unfolded itself 
they sat like fixed statues, hardly daring to breathe while they 
followed the fortunes of the Cavalier. 

In the last scene of the last act the groupings and the sur- 
roundings were perfect; the effect admirable. In the back- 
ground was a line of breastworks, or rather rifle-pits, which 
looked as natural as though they had just been thrown up. Be- 
hind these parapets could be seen the half-concealed Yankee 
troops, their bayonets bristling like a forest of spears. The Stars 
and Stripes (that banner which these veterans had only seen at 
intervals during the last two years, in the rifts of battle-smoke) 
drooped from its staff, breathing defiance in its every listless fold 
and recalling many a frightful scene. 



336 JOHNNY RI;B AND BILLY YANK 

In front of the works, pacing up and down upon his beat, was 
a Dutch sokHer, evidently from Vaterland and just mustered in. 
He was apparently intensely proud of his brand new blue uniform 
with its bright buttons, and strutted loftily along with his head 
held high in the air, carrying his musket in a peculiarly awkward 
manner, and wishing in his heart that his dear Gretchen and his 
little brother Hans could be there to see how fine he was, and 
how splendidly he was doing it, and how all the people were ad- 
miring him. 

Yes, he was doing his part well, being simply himself, the veri- 
table Dutch recruit, with every detail of his dress and manner 
perfect, standing as we had often seen many of them stand the 
long hours through when as prisoners they had mounted guard 
over us. 

In the distance the scenery represented the camp with its white 
tents and its troops drilling. On each side of the breastworks 
was pitched a small shelter-tent fronting the audience, within 
which were several soldiers, smoking, yawning and playing cards, 
their accoutrements hanging up, and the camp kettle actually 
boiling on the fire. Even the old theatre habitues applauded 
heartily the faithful rendition, and every soldier present recog- 
nized the marvelous exactness of the scene. What must then 
have been the effect upon those matter-of-fact, unsophisticated 
fellows, who had followed the plot with their hearts in their eyes 
and their souls in their ears. 

When this familiar picture rose before them they sniffed the 
battle from afar, their nostrils dilating, their eyes gleaming with 
excitement, and each hand unconsciously clutching its musket with 
a firmer grip. 

The play went on ; the guards were retired and proceeded to 
cook their breakfast. From the camp kettle there rose the 
grateful odor of boiling coffee ; the crackers were toasted by the 
coals, and the pieces of bacon stuck on the end of bayonets siz- 
zled and fired in the flames. After they had all "squenched" 
their hunger, as the "Marchioness" expressed it. they lounged at 
ease, and filling their pipes commenced smoking while they dis- 
cussed the war in stage whispers ; the Dutchman narrating in 
his dialect, amid peals of laughter, his peculiar ideas of military 
affairs. 

So the play advanced preparatory to its culmination in a grand 
mise en scene. Unexpectedly came the whip-like crack of a 
rifle; then another and another in rapid succession. The guards 



HOOD S MEN VISIT THE THEATRE 33/ 

seized their guns and sprang to their feet. The officers in hoarse, 
quick tones ordered the men to come inside the works; and 
they scrambled in fast enough. Again was heard the skirmish 
fire; and next appeared three or four videttes, who vanished from 
sight within the fort. 

The Arkansas troops and the Texans rose mechanically to 
their feet, and never took their gaze from the picture formed by 
the green baize. 

They were on the battle-field once more. At Gaines' Mill, be- 
fore Fort Reliance ; they were waiting for Hood to give the word 
to the Forlorn Hope to advance; they were standing again in 
the hot summer evening at the foot of the hill by the Chinn 
House in the Second ]\Ianassas, gazing on the guns, which, loaded 
to the muzzle, were pointing at their hearts; they had forgotten 
that this was but mimic warfare, and they were standing again as 
they had stood before, waiting for the signal to storm the works. 

In the distance could be seen on this immense, roomy stage the 
form of a Rebel scout, who crawled flat upon the ground to recon- 
noitre the place. Then he retired and came back with several sharp- 
shooters, who commenced to fire upon the fort. 

Hood's men began to get restless; low murmurs were heard, 
and their eyes were beginning to blaze with unsuppressed ex- 
citement and passion. 

Then came the Rebel storming column ; they stopped, were 
dressed in a line and then fixed bayonets. The Southern Cross 
was flaunting proudly in the air, and the supreme moment had 
arrived. 

From the fort no sign was made except the steady, watchful 
gleam of the row of eyes and the sullen menace of the grim black 
guns. Suddenly a report was heard and something like a shell 
burst over the works. It was so unexpected that a nervous 
scream or two issued from feminine lips. The faces of the sol- 
diers in the pit became fixed. 

The Rebel stormers were ordered to charge, and they sprang 
to their task. A rattling volley met them; some fell, but they 
reached the fort. The guns exploded every second, the line 
staggered, they reeled and fell back. Through the smoke could 
be seen the Union flag still floating. 

• The Rebels rallied ; they reached the entrenchment and 
climbed the parapet. A hand-to-hand fight ensued ; cold steel 
clashed with cold steel : the blue and the gray were mingled in 
a frenzied combat. The whole scene was made lurid by the sul- 



33^ JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

phurous, ghastly glare of the burning chemicals, and the amber- 
colored smoke rolled in clouds to the roof. 

The struggle continued, and according to the programme the 
Rebels were driven back for the second time. 

Yes, they were beaten back, and many had fallen in the contest. 
The Texans could stand it no longer; the blood was rushing 
through their veins with the old war-fever, with all the savage 
instincts of battle aroused. There was the foe, shouting in ex- 
ultation ; there waved the flag which every man of them had 
charged over and over again ; there they were, falling back, their 
comrades in gray. 

"Up, men, and at them!" cried Wellington at Waterloo. ''Drive 
'em, boys!" sang out a tall, gaunt Arkansan. 

The old wild yell burst from scores of lips. They charged the 
works ! 

Over benches, up the aisles toward the stage they surged like 
a raging torrent, carrying everything before them. 

The orchestra dived through the subterranean doors, disap- 
pearing like so many rats. Women were shrieking and fainting, 
men grew pale and speechless as the Rebel soldiers, with their 
guns at a charge, began to climb the stage, yelling like so many 
demons. 

It was a part of the performance not laid down in the bills. 

Fortunatel}', very fortunately, there were stringent orders 
against carrying loaded guns in the streets of the city, or the play 
might have turned into a real tragedy. Just as the foremost had 
reached the stage the lights went out and Cimmerian darkness 
fell upon the lately brilliant house. 

A calm, clear voice was heard begging the soldiers to take their 
seats. In a flash the gas jets were blazing out again. 

The sudden reaction among the men was laughable. Crest- 
fallen and ashamed, now that their enthusiasm had died away, 
they returned to their places. 

The manager, D'Orsay Ogden, then appeared before the 
foot-lights, and in a neat little speech said that in the whole course 
of his theatrical experience he had never received so high a com- 
pliment ; that he considered it a tribute to the mounting of the 
piece, unparalleled in the history of the stage. 

The next night the division bivouacked at Chester, a place half 
way between Richmond and Petersburg. It had turned sud- 
denly cold and by evening the thermometer was in the neighbor- 
hood of zero. ■ 



HOOD S MEN VISIT THE THEATRE 339 

Worn out by the march, our men soon finished their supper and 
turned in for the night, sleeping in couples or in quartettes so as 
to obtain all the warmth from a partnership in cover. A soldier 
learns the art of sleeping comfortably on the ground on a cold 
night only by long practice ; it is as much a matter of education 
as the manual of arms. He has to acquire the art of sleeping 
with his head under the blanket all the time; he has to be master 
of the craft of slumbering steadily on, spoon-fashion, with two or 
a dozen men, not moving unless they move, and turning when all 
turn. He must lie on his side, for under a blanket of limited 
dimensions four men. to obtain the benefit of its warmth, must 
occupy the smallest space possible. The middle men, like the 
pigs in the center, were always kept warm, for there was not the 
slightest danger in the world of their missing the covering by a 
slide, a hitch or a surreptitious pull, when there was a man to 
preserve the balance on either side, and fight for it if need be. 
Lots were drawn for those positions always. 

That evening, because the weather was so intensely cold, the 
men generally doubled or stretched out into sets of spoons, and 
every stitch was made available. During the night a heavy 
snow-storm silently fell, and covered the sleeping host to a depth 
of fully eight inches with its light, fleecy mantle. Not a man had 
roused while gentle Nature, with a pitying love for her children, 
had placed blanket, sheet and robe over each recumbent figure. 
lightly and tenderly as a mother's hand would wrap her sleeping 
infant; flake by flake, noiselessly enfolding them from the biting 
cold, and letting them dream on. 

In the morning Pickett's division was nowhere to be seen ; 
naught was there to meet the eye of dawning day but a wide 
expanse of snow, rising and falling in regular hillocks like the 
billows of the sea or like snow-covered graves in the churchyard. 

A hostile army might have defiled within pistol-shot of the 
place and never suspected but that those mounds of snow were 
the last resting places of the departed. 

At last the oppressive and unusual heat awoke an officer; he 
shook loose the snow, sat up, rubbed his eyes, looked again and 
half rose. Where was he? Another look and another rub of 
the eyes and then he understood that each motionless wave was 
sentient with life, and in a trice, like the dragon teeth sown by 
Cadmus, would rise ready for the fray. 

He stood up, prepared to enjoy the coming scene. Just then 
a head popped out with the suddenness of a Jack-in-the-box, and 



340 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK 

with a bewildered countenance looked around; another, another^ 
and yet another; then by tens and by hundreds the "whited 
sepulchers" were burst asunder, and the sleepers arose, impetu- 
ously dashing the snow from eyes, face and body, and looking as 
wildly around as if their disembodied spirits had come to take up 
quarters once more in the same old tabernacles of flesh and 
blood. 

Those who looked on said that they will never see such another 
sight till the dawning of the resurrection morn, the Dies Iraes 
when the trump shall sound and the graves shall give up their 
dead. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. . 

THE BIVOUAC AT PETERSBURG. 

About three miles from Petersburg the division halted in the 
midst of a huge pine forest, where the land was low, sobby and 
wet. Surely a worse situation could not have been found out- 
side of the Dismal Swamp. The wood was green pine, and every- 
body knows what a trial that is to patience and a sweet temper. 
The bark burns, 'tis true, but says to the fire, "so far, and no 
farther shalt thou go." Our only way then to circumvent such 
obstinacy was to cut down a colossal monarch of the woods, 
whose circumference measured several feet, and keep a fire 
against it until the heart caught, and then, as with human beings, 
you might bask in its fervid glow ; otherwise a green fire is worse 
than a balky horse, a scolding wife or a smoky chimney. 

On the second day of our camp in the woods, without tents or 
shelter of any kind, there came such a snow-storm as rarely vis- 
ited those latitudes; a steady snow, that without intermission for 
two days and nights covered the road two feet deep on a level. 
The sufferings of the men can hardly be imagined. Almost im- 
possible to start a fire as it was (the cold intense from want of 
shelter), the men slept days and nights coiled up in their blankets. 
Rations, too, were far from sufficient ; no coffee had been issued to 
the troops for a long time ; but with a strange perversity, or 
rather mockery, large rations of sugar were given out. Not 
wishing to lose so much of the sweetness of life where we were in 
need of as much as we could get, we invented a new dish con- 
sisting of brown sugar and snow. Large quantities of this grub 
were consumed without the consciousness of any comfortable 
sense of fulness, but the heat of our bodies was more equably 
diffused thereby, the inside being kept about the same temper- 
ature as the outside. 

For half a month we managed to exist; three-fourths of the 
time without fire, camping in a place which was literally under 
water during the thaw, our feet always wet. Cold and 
hungry, we passed as dismal days as were ever dragged out by a 
Siberian exile. Amid all this desolation of mud, what had we to 
fall back upon for consolation? Our very spiritual comfort was 
wanting, for any minister who might have been disposed to 



342 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

preach to such water rats would have been obHged to climb a 
tree. 

But there was one gleam of sunshine that came to us amid all 
this shade, and left a smiling memory; one light spot amid so 
much which was cheerless, and that was a keg of Widow Malone's 
whiskey. 

We called him "the Widow Malone'' because he bore the same 
name as General Dashwood's aunt, who sang the famous song at 
the Embassador's ball. He was a private in Company A and 
hailed from the old North State ; a bon comrade and a gallant sol- 
dier. 

The widow was a jocund fellow; and shared generously with 
the company all he had. If the prayers of the ungodly availed 
anything, his father would have been saved without repentance. 
There were turkeys which looked so fair it was almost a sin to 
eat them ; ducks from Currituck, so sweet that we would devour 
bones and all ; chickens so tender that they had not come to years 
of discretion ; pigs that would tempt a Jew to fall from grace ; 
hams which had been cured by hickory smoke, and boiled in the 
same pot with Esau's porridge ; a liaunch of mutton so juicy that 
we squared all accounts with his fathers and forefathers for fur- 
nishing hides of which to make drum heads ; the whitest of bread, 
the nicest of preserves and pickles, besides many other viands 
and delicacies prepared by loving care and willing hands, all cal- 
culated to make glad our waste places. 

There they were all set before us ; is it any wonder that Com- 
pany A wished they had two stomachs each, like a camel ? 

The men were very hungry, remember, and as blue as indigo 
and as woe-be-gone as the wicked on a lone isle. It is not 
strange, therefore, that they charged that keg like a battery. 
The most abstemious were reckless and the old battered tin cups 
were replenished again and again; even John Zimmerman, the 
one good man in Zion, spliced the main-brace the first time for 
twenty years. Every drop was as precious to those wet, shiver- 
ing soldiers as tb.e ambrosia which the divine Ganymede handed 
to the immortal Jupiter. 

We drank the widow's health in deep potations; then his 
illustrious father's, whose devotion to his son touched us deeply. 
In fact, we drank to the widow's whole family, past, present and 
forthcoming, yes, even unto the third and fourth generations. 

In the midst of the revel the drum beat for dress parade, 
\ "Fall in, boys!" cried Sergeant Saunders, and it was in truth a 



THE BIVOUAC AT PETERSBURG 343 

"fall in." Company A meandered to its stacked muskets and 
formed a zig-zag. 

''Right dress!" said Corporal Stickly, spreading his legs far 
apart and sticking his bayonet in the ground, looking the while 
like a gigantic tripod. The men were holding on to each other 
and getting that strength and nnitual support which a line of 
bricks have, propped up one against another, 

"Forward, march !" cried Captain Billy Smith, running plumb 
against a tree. 

"Steady, boys," and it was good advice but unheeded. Down he 
tell headlong, but being picked up by some who tumbled around him 
a few times before they succeeded, he walked off, trying to look pre- 
ternaturally dignified. 

Away they all staggered, rickety and uncertain in every limb, 
to take their places on the right of the regiment, which was drawn 
up in a line on a simple inspection of the dress parade. 

The rest of the regiment gazed in wonder, for not a man of 
this festive company could stand steadily, and when the whole 
line went through the manual of arms. Company A's performance 
discounted a Georgia militia muster, or even the acrobatic feats 
of the clown in the circus. It must be confessed that every 
mother's son of them was tight as a brick and saw a dozen differ- 
ent objects at once. The colonel, standing some forty paces ofT, 
was magnified into several colonels ; the earth and the sky were 
in a ceaseless spin, and the ground shook as with an earthquake. 
AVho could have been expected to maintain a perpendicular with 
all nature behaving in this unseemly manner? 

The regiment was in a broad grin ; officers, with twitching 
features, vainly endeavored to silence the laughter. One glance 
to the right was enough to upset the gravity of the most solemn 
patriot there. 

Why, just see that man raising his foot as if he were going 
up a pair of stairs and then coming down with a bang. Look 
how they lurch, as if they were at sea in a high storm with tlie 
vessel rocking from side to side. Watch that fellow pick himself 
up ! What superhuman efforts they are making to impress the 
fact that they are as sober as judges. Evidently they are think- 
ing every man of them is drunk but himself. What a variety of 
expressions their faces wear, from the simpering smile and broad 
expanse of grin, straight through to the funereal. 

The climax was reached, however, in the last formula of the 
evolution, when all the company officers, in full dress, met in the 



344 JOHNNY REB AND BILI^V YANK 

center of the regiment directly in front of the colors, and march- 
ing to where the colonel stood, saluted him. The officers of 
Company A were in the same plight as the privates; but they felt 
they would be satisfied if they accomplished that walk without 
disgrace. 

Summing up all their will, their pride, their strength, they 
essayed the regulation step with every eye of the command upon 
them. The sword belt of one of Company A's lieutenants had 
slipped below the waist, and with every step he took the sword 
was banging on the ground; it got entangled between his legs 
and tripped him up. He stumbled, recovered, lurched forward, 
then fell to the ground. 

This was too much for discipline and a smothered roar burst 
from the men. Lieutenant Addison and the rest of the com- 
pany's officers were sandwiched among the balance of the rank, 
and by their aid, one on each side, their tottering feet were guided 
right. Then the regiment broke and the men made their way 
back to camp, 

"But for the number," said the colonel, "I would have put 
them under arrest; but it would have been an unheard of thing 
to clap a whole company in the guard-house, officers anl all." 

Afterwards we came to the conclusion that of all the liquors in 
the world, of all brews ever distilled, that of pure, unadulterated 
North Carolina apple-jack was the strongest, most foot-tripping, 
head-turning, and most demoralizing generally, and the most in- 
sinuating. 

The exposure, the constant dampness of feet and clothes, the 
continued eating of sugar and snow soon began to tell upon the 
health of the men. Colds, throat and lung diseases, inflammation 
of the stomach were very prevalent, and when later on in March 
the division fell into line of march to Suffolk, many of us had to 
be sent to the hospital in Petersburg. 

Very sadly the sick beheld their comrades file down the road 
and disappear. Lonely and desolate enough we felt when the 
rough-looking ambulances started on their way to sick quarters. 

As for myself, what with the racking pain, increased by the jolt- 
ing of the ambulance until it became intolerable agony, I fainted 
and was taken out as one dead. 



I 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

IN THE HOSPITAL. 

The "Confederate Hospital," as it was called, was an immense 
tobacco warehouse in Petersburg, which had been temporarily 
assigned to the use of the wounded and sick. There were two 
wards, one on the ground floor and the other above; each con- 
sisted of a vast room with narrow beds ranged in long, parallel 
rows about two feet apart, and each ward about six rows, or sev- 
eral hundred cots. The beds were only coarse cotton bags filled 
with shucks, with the adjuncts of a small pillow and one blanket. 
Sheets, coverlets or bolsters there were none, our Government 
being in far too straitened circumstances to offer any but the 
barest necessities. The luxuries generally found in hospitals 
were for richer treasuries than ours. 

Our medical stafif was trained and of the finest material, com- 
posed of men whose hearts were in their work, and who per- 
formed their duty with a devotion that could not have been sur- 
passed. They were fearfully hampered by the want of proper 
medicines and were obliged sometimes to fall back upon the 
simple herbs and whatever materia medica our own country might 
afford. Quinine was especially wanted and could always com- 
mand fabulous prices when brought into our lines for sale by the 
regular blockade runners. The United States Government dis- 
played the utmost vigilance in suppressing the traffic, even 
though their own soldiers suffered in our prisons for the want of 
it. The large percentage to be made by its importation proved 
too great a temptation to the money-loving and money-getting 
on both sides, hence it was apt to find its way over in greater or 
lesser quantities in a hundred different methods of which the 
Federal authorities never dreamed. Women brought it rolled 
up in their hair; it was sewed in the hems of their dresses; the 
trunks that came with regular passes by way of Fortress Monroe 
had false bottoms which the soldiers who tumbled out their con- 
tents never suspected ; men carried it in the soles of their 
shoes. The need, however, was far above the supply, and its want 
was sadly felt. 

Chloroform was also in great demand. Man}^ ill-fated sol- 
diers were obliged to undergo amputation without any narcoti 



346 JOHNNY REB AND BIIXY YANK 

whatever, sustaining in keenest nervous sensitiveness the tor- 
tures of the knife and the horrible agony of the saw. Thus were 
the horrors of war doubly aggravated to the South, against whicli 
the ports of the world were closed even in so merciful a matter as 
that of medicines. It would seem that when the unfortunates 
were brought to such extremity, when human nerves were put to 
such rack as this, for the sake of the humanity which we all 
shared, hatred and malice might have well afforded to lay down 
weapons of warfare. 

John Randolph of Roanoke, a bitter, cynical man, one whose 
hand was against every man and every man's against him, was 
once heard to say of a stricken foe, "When God lays his hand 
upon a man then I take mine off." So great a nation as the 
United States might well have extended a like generosity in this 
one instance of chloroform, without any fear that the great Re- 
bellion would have lasted thereby one day longer. The refusal 
of a few in authority to grant so slight a boon, not slight to the 
agonized dying, and the vigilance lest it should find its way to our 
hospitals w^ould not have been endorsed by the Northern people 
at large. 

The doctors made their rounds every morning and evening, 
the seriously ill and badly wounded of course receiving more at- 
tention; but as regularly as the day rolled around would come 
those two examinations by the assistant doctors, while the chief 
surgeon went through the hospital and inspected the graver 
cases. His office was in the building, where he was ready day and 
night to attend wdth his advice and assistance all who might need 
either. Among the hundreds of patients his time was fully em- 
ployed. 

The rations for the sick were but little better than the fare 
other soldiers w^ere receiving — hardtack and fat pork, with rye 
coffee. The want of delicacies in the hospitals was marked; 
but for the unremitting, kindly attention of the women in Peters- 
burg, whose fervor never flagged during the whole w^ar, whose 
hearts were "open as day for melting charity," the admittance 
would have been tantamount to an order on the sexton for a 
grave, or a civil request in behalf of the patient for a coffin from 
the obliging undertaker. It was their fair hands which brought 
and administered the luxuries which the enfeebled patient de- 
manded, and which the Confederate Government could not 
supply. 

Nearly every lady in the city visited the hospital more or less 



IN THK HOSriTAL 347 

frequently, always carrying radiant sunlight into the murky 
gloom of the place, dispelling the homesickness, the hopeless- 
ness — the despair to which the sick are but too prone to yield 
when helpless among strangers. They always chose the most 
dangerously ill to carry to their homes, where the delicacies so 
much needed, and constant attention, would tell in the close 
encounter between life and death. Thus hundreds who turned 
from the smell of fat bacon, whose appetites were all unequal to 
tlie hard biscuits, and who were daily growing weaker and more 
emaciated, — who were fast sinking into an apathy which death 
only would end, — were saved from being swept into untimely 
graves, and brought back to life from the very Valley of the 
Shadow of Death. 

We had no Sanitary Commission in the South ; no great and 
good organization to lighten the cares of the sick, to pour oil 
on the wounds, and bring comfort to the bedside of the distressed 
and dying. We were too poor ; we had no line of rich and pop- 
ulous cities closely connected by rail, all combined in the good 
work of collecting and forwarding supplies and maintaining 
costly and thoroughly equipped charities. With us every house 
was a hospital ; every latch hung outside the door, and the dirt- 
iest gray-jacket was taken by the hand and the last crust shared 
with him. 

We had sad enough scenes of suffering in these hospitals, for 
all were alike everywhere ; an epic poem of sombre coloring in 
every wan, pallid face, in every wasted form ; an unwritten ser- 
mon on the uncertainty of life in the covered figures that lay as 
motionless as if the ward were a mausoleum. Mental pain and 
physical agony mingled their groans ; while the three terrible 
sisters whom De Ouincy has shown to us in the weird, spectral 
light of his impassioned fancy sat by the bedside of each soldier. 

The day could be spent pleasantly enough, for there was the 
doctor's call, and the visitors, which always had a brighten- 
ing effect. Then there was the sunshine pouring through the 
window: the songs of birds in the cages near; the sound of the 
bustle of city life which fell pleasantly upon the ear ; the reading 
of books and newspapers (if patients were convalescent), the 
chance dropping in of comrades bringing in all the gossip of the 
camp: and above all, letters from home. These all tended to lighten 
the weary hours and relieve the monotony of otherwise lagging- 
time. 



34S JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

There were many sick who had no mental resources to fall back 
upon, who could read neither books nor papers, who had no 
friends to come to them, who, being obscure and illiterate, did not 
receive the same attention, although they were not altogether 
slighted. So they lay in their cots with staring eyes, brooding 
over their helpless condition, sinking without an effort to rally, 
and filling, as a class, a majority of the graves. 

Then many, very many, of the sick died in the hospitals simply 
from nostolgia or homesickness. A soldier from the far South 
would be brought in with a wound or a long, lingering camp-fever, 
w^hich seemed to require only time to insure certain restoration 
to health; but as the days passed with no familiar face by his 
cot, one might observe, if he were an habitue of the ward, that his 
features grew paler and thinner, his looks more weary and listless, 
until some morning one might stop by his side and notice that 
the pallor of death — one can never mistake it — was upon his brow, 
and his breath coming in gasps from his livid lips. Then you 
could watch him dying (as I have done a score of times), and if 
charitably inclined wipe the gathering dampness from his brow 
or fan him until all was over and the suffering soul released. 
The simple truth of the matter was, the poor soldier had grown 
hopeless and despairing. He had lost all control over himself 
and would cry like a child ; and then, not having been roused from 
this fatal, nervous apathy and weakness, the downward path into 
the grave had been too sure, dying because he had not nervous 
force enough to hold on to the attenuated thread of life. 

So passed the days, dragging their slow length along to all and 
bringing the end of all things to some. It was the long nights 
which came as a terror to every man that lay beneath the roof of 
the hospital; it was to me as a hideous dream. The vast room, 
with the narrow beds side by side, became like the dim caverns 
of the Catacombs, where, instead of the dead in their final rest, 
there were extended wasted figures burning with fever and raving 
from the agony of splintered bones, tossing restlessly from side 
to side, with every ill, it seemed, which human flesh was heir to. 

From the rafters the flickering oil lamp swung mournfully, 
casting a ghastly light upon the scene beneath, but half-dispelling 
the darkness, bringing out dim shadows everywhere and render- 
ing the gloom only more spectral. Up and down the aisles 
moved the nurses with muffled footfalls, looking to the eye of the 
fevered patient like the satellites of the Venetian Doges gliding 
vthrough the torture chamber. The sickening odor of medicine, 



IN THE HOSPITAL, 349 

the nephritic air shut in by the closed windows, rendered the at- 
mosphere heavy and unwholesome. The groans heard at inter- 
vals, the wanderings of delirium, the occasional querulous de- 
mands of the sick to the servitors, the shriek of agony as a broken 
limb would by a rough touch or careless movement be jarred, all 
combined and coming ceaselessly from so many lips among the 
hundreds lying there, made sleep or quiet rest impossible except 
to the strong or those under the influence of anodynes. 

The first glimmer of dawn coming stealing through the windows, 
rendering more dim the hanging lamp, was welcomed with as 
much joy as that with which the Brahman hails the rising of the 
Sun God. 

Early every morning the wards were inspected by the assist- 
ant surgeon, who passed rapidly along the rows of beds, giving a 
quick glance at each. He neither stopped nor Hstened at such a 
time to complaints or entreaties, while his black vassals kept at 
his heels. His mission is a mystery to a new patient, but if he 
watches he will see the doctor suddenly stop, approach a form 
lying in bed, feel his pulse, his brow, his heart, and then speak a 
few rapid words to the servants with him. They take in their 
strong arms the stiffened figure whose eyes shall no more watch 
longingly for the coming of the day, and bear him out, while the 
surgeon, going to the headboard, copies in his note-book from 
the card the name, company and regiment of the deceased. 

In the morning paper, under the heading of "Died in the Hos- 
pital," there is a name and that is all ; all of the life which surged 
out to the great ocean of Eternity. Alone in the darkness of the 
night, with no friend to catch the last fond, lingering look or close 
the dying eyes ; the last of a life with all its hopes, its fears, its 
loves, its duties. Who stops to ask a question about him? 
Who seems to care? It makes as much stir, this death, as a 
pebble cast in the stream ; a slight bubble on the surface and no 
more; in the meantime the servant has turned over the shuck 
mattress, given the blanket a shake, beaten the pillow, and taken 
down the card : then the bed is ready for another occupant, who 
may be placed thereon fifteen minutes after. This was a com- 
mon occurrence. Is it any wonder that men grew callous and 
fearless, when death was all around them? 

We read of the ravages of the plague in India, and through 
burning verse which thrills us we follow English soldiers in their 
banquet song. Breathing the tainted air. they know they must 
soon be stricken, so they fill high their brimming glasses, and 
with resonant voice chant the awful chorus: 



350 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

"Stand to your glasses ready, 
Drink to your fair lady's eyes ; 
Here's to the dead already, 
Here's to the next man who dies !" 

More unconcerned, more regardless of death is the hospital 
patient; for oft-times he sits up in his cot chewing contentedly 
his hardtack and drinking his coffee, while the soldier who rests 
next to him, and whom he has learned to know, is dragged off to 
his final resting place. It makes no impression on him ; he eats 
not a mouthful less, nor drinks a spoonful more. The King of 
Terrors has appeared so often before him and lingered so long 
that he has lost that "majesty that doth hedge a king;" and so 
the soldier looks upon him without the twitching of a nerve or 
the hurried beating of the heart. 

Southern hospitals during the two latter years of the war were 
quite different from what they were at first, when their proper 
organization had hardly been effected. First and last they would 
have borne the same comparison that the crude material of the 
militia does to the \vell-drilled and perfected army. Large and 
airy buildings were set apart and converted into permanent hos- 
pitals wherein the best arrangements were made for both sick 
and wounded. Systematized regulations and order reigned in 
every department from the kitchen up. Instead of the indis- 
criminate visiting and nursing of the charitably disposed, which, 
no matter how much needed at first and how helpful, was in some 
cases more injurious than otherwise, regular nurses were per- 
manently appointed at stated salaries with certain defined duties. 
These appointments were made from the best and highest ladies 
in the land, the most refined and delicate, who with tenderness 
and Christian charity took the place of professional nurses, super- 
intended the linen department and saw that the food was properly 
and nicely served. The gentleness, the patience, the loving sac- 
rifice of those women no words can describe. They served with a 
self-abnegation which never faltered (for the pay was a mere pit- 
tance and never could enter as a motive) throughout the long days 
of summer, and the longer nights of winter found them unwearied 
^^ atchers by the sick and dying. 

And so the days passed, bringing in the sick and wounded in a 
steady stream. 

The convalescent, without a smile for many weeks on their pale 
faces, were assisted out with a furlough in their pockets, into the 
waiting ambulances, which drove them gently to the depot. 



IN THE HOSPITAI, 35 I 

There, though every seat be filled by the reckless soldiery, yet 
when the cry goes out, "Make way for sick soldiers," the words 
are as potent as the warning note of the Sultan's crier in Bagdad ; 
for the crowd opens a passage and they are helped to the best 
seats in the car ; and the mightiest soldier will sit beside him 
and do his will. 

The statistics of the Confederate States show that many more 
died in the hospitals than were killed on the field of battle. 

Through the unremitting care of Miss Fannie Bannister, of 
Petersburg, a veritable angel, and Mrs. Judge Joynes, of the same 
city, I rallied from an attack of inflammation of the stomach 
which dragged me to the very pit of the grave, and then, re- 
duced in weight but happy at heart, was sent to Richmond among 
my friends, with an indefinite leave on a sick furlough. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. ^ 

CHANCElyI.ORSVILI.K. 

As long as the South remains a people and cherishes her tra- 
ditions, the name of Chancellorsville will ever be a word of sor- 
row, a sound of woe; for it was there that she lost the soldier 
whose star never paled, the man of the times, the one who had 
always plucked the flower of success from the nettle of defeat. 

Who but Jackson could have surprised the great Army of the 
Potomac in broad day; who but Jackson could have kept his 
troops together in that tangled wilderness? 

Who but Jackson could have inspired the gray infantry with 
the firm belief that their general was invincible ? 

And there lives not a Southerner who does not believe that 
had Stonewall Jackson lived, Appomattox would have been a 
word with no bitter memories. America would doubtless have 
been one country, as destiny determined it should be — but the 
shame of defeat, the horrors of reconstruction would have been 
spared the South. 

Before General Hooker had reorganized his army and matured 
his plans he had many a doubt about his ultimate success. In 
a report made April 21, '63, he says: 

"You must be patient with me — I must play with these devils 
before I can spring. Remember that my army is at the bottom 
of the well and the enemy holds the top." (Reb. Records, Vol. 25, 
p. 241.) 

But his mind changed and a wild elation took the place of 
despondency. One week after this dispatch he held a grand re- 
view of the Army of the Potomac and beheld that mighty host in 
all of its pride, strength and power ; he felt as certain of success 
as a man could be in this world. The ranks were full, the men 
in perfect condition, and the ofificers brimful of enthusiasm. Victor}?^ 
was in the air. His disposition was to make a flank movement and 
cross the Rappahannock at United Mine Ford, and once over the 
river he felt the battle was won. Colonel Galbraith, of his stafif, told 
me years later that on the evening before the advance, General 
Hooker and several general officers were examining a map of the 
Wilderness, and Hooker, placing his finger on the spot marked 



CHANCEl.IwORSVII.IvE 353 

Chancellorsville, said : "Gentlemen, if I can plant my army there, 
God Almighty can't drive me out." 

So he issued this congratulatory order to his troops : 

"Gen. Orders, No. 47. H'd Q'r's Army of Potomac, 

"Camp near Falmouth, 
"April 30, 1863. 

"It is with heartfelt satisfaction the commanding general 
announces to the army that the operations of the last three days 
have determined that the enemy must either ingloriously fly, or 
come out from behind his defenses and give us battle on our own 
ground, where certain destruction awaits him. 

"By command of Major General Hooker." (Reb. Records, 
Vol. 25, p. 171.) 

Three days later, after placing his army at Chancellorsville (in 
the tavern of that spot he was wounded), fighting the battle and 
recrossing the river, he issued this order: 

"General Orders, No. 49. 

"Camp near Falmouth, Va., May 6, 1863. 

"The Major-General commanding tenders the army his con- 
gratulations on its achievements of the last seven days. If it has 
not accomplished all that was expected, the reasons were of a 
character not to be foreseen or prevented by human sagacity or 
resource. 

"By our celerity and secrecy of movement our advance and pas- 
sage of the river was undisputed, and on our withdrawal not a Rebel 
ventured to follow. 

"The events of last week may swell with pride the heart of every 
officer and soldier in this army." (Reb. Records, Vol. 25, p. 171.) 

If the hearts of the soldiers swelled with pride over their 
achievements it was more than the Northern people did. In- 
stead their hearts were filled with sorrow, anger and bitterness. 
They had hoped for so very much and gotten so Httle. To cross 
a river and return cost him 13,000 men. Lee's congratulatory 
order was read in the North, and then General Hooker was 
forced to step down and out. 

"General Orders, No. 59. 

"Head Quarters Army of Northern Virginia, 

"May 7, 1863. 
"With heartfelt gratification the General commanding expresses 

23 



354 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

to the army his sense of the heroic conduct displayed by officers 
and men. 

"Under trying vicissitudes of heat and storm you attacked the 
enemy strongly entrenched in the depths of a tangled wilderness, 
and by the valor that has triumphed in so many fields forced him 
once more to seek safety beyond the Rappahannock. 

"We are especially called upon to return our grateful thanks to 
the only Giver of Victory for his signal deliverance. 

"R. E. Lee, 
''Commanding General." 

In the opening days of May, 1863, when the buds were burst- 
ing into blossoms and the daisies were sprinkling the green fields 
Oi Virginia with drops of white, the blue gamecock of the North 
and the red one of the South, gafifed, spurred and trimmed, 
stood defiantly eyeing each other, ready, willing and anxious to 
try conclusions once more. 

To a "Looker on in Vienna" the chances were all in Hooker's 
favor. He justly described his command as the "finest army on 
the planet," the esprit de corps was high and one hundred and 
twenty thousand men stood ready to follow him to the death ; 
and he, brave, dashing, impetuous, was a fit leader for such men. 

Hooker had two important factors in his favor ; first, his su- 
periority in numbers; second, the absence of Lee's left arm, for 
Longstreet w^as with his division in North Carolina. And just 
here it may be said that such an error in grand strategy like to 
have cost the South dear, for it deprived Lee in a critical period 
of the game of his trusted lieutenant, when Sedgwick with 20,000 
men came rushing on his flank at Salem Church, and forced Lee 
to change all carefully laid plans for the defeat of Hooker. 

Hooker w^as undoubtedly a well-trained soldier and able tacti- 
cian, and his plan to interpose his army between Lee and Rich- 
mond was a fascinating one ; but he made the fatal mistake of 
not knowing the topography of the country. He chose for his 
battle-ground a section which neutralized the superiority of his 
artillery, for in weight, in numbers and in metal his guns over- 
matched those of his adversary. Lee was aware of the false 
move, for his scout service was the finest in the world ; but he 
did nothing to check it, for he was only too glad to let Hooker 
lose himself in the tangled labyrinth of the Wilderness. 

Federal General Warren, describing the Chancellorsville section, 
said: 



CHANCElvI^ORSVILLE 355 

"A proper understanding of the country will help to relieve the 
Americans from the charge so frequently made at home and 
abroad of want of generalship, of handling troops in battles, 
battles that have to be fought out hand-to-hand in forests where 
artillery and cavalry could play no part, where the troops could 
not be seen by the officers controlling their movements, where 
the echoes of the sound from tree to tree were enough to appall 
the strongest hearts engaged, and yet the noise would hardly be 
heard beyond the immediate scene of strife.. Thus the generals 
on either side, shut out from sight and hearing, had to trust to 
the unyielding bravery of their own men. 

"Who shall wonder that such battles often terminated from the 
mutual exhaustion of both contending forces? But rather that 
in all these struggles of Americans against Americans, no panic 
on either side gave the victory to the other like that which the 
French under Moreau gained over the Austrians in the Black 
Forest." (Reb. Records, Vol. 25, p. 193.) 

The truest criticism of General Hooker's campaign was made 
by his second in command, Major-General Crouch. He says : 

"In looking for the causes of the loss of Chancellorsville, the 
primary ones were that Hooker expected Lee to fall back with- 
out risking battle. Finding himself mistaken, he assumed the 
defensive and was outgeneraled, and he became demoralized by 
the superior tactical boldness of the enemy." ("Battles and Lead- 
ers." Vol. 3, p. 171.) 

General Howard, commanding the ill-fated Eleventh Corps, 
said that the cause of disaster was, "though constantly threatened 
and apprised of the moving of the enemy, yet the woods were so 
dense that the foe was able to mass a large force, whose exact where- 
abouts neither my patrols, reconnaissance, nor scouts could ascer- 
tain." (Reb. Records, Vol. 25, p. 630.) 

When the scouts brought General Lee the news that preparations 
were being made by Hooker to cross the Rappahannock the first 
step that Lee took was a peremptory order to Longstreet to rejoin 
him at once. Lee had only two courses to pursue : one was to make 
a hurried retreat, and choosing some strong defensive position, en- 
trench, and delay the enemy until Longstreet reinforced him. This 
was the safest course, and no leader but a master in the art of war 
would have set at naught all the rules of military tactics and divided 
his army, numerically inferior to the enemy, leaving his center open 
and undefended save by a strong skirmish line. But Lee took the 
same chances that he did in the Manassas campaign. 



356 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

General Gordon, in his book, states that it was Jackson's proposal 
to flank Hooker, and in the famous conference in the woods, when 
he and General Lee sat on a couple of cracker-boxes, and Jackson 
formulated his views, it is a historical fact that General Lee agreed 
to his lieutenant's plan of campaign then and there without a single 
modification. 

In the attack Stonewall Jackson formed his men in three lines, 
Rodes in front, Trimble's division under General Colston in the 
second, and A, P. Hill in the third line. The orders were clear 
and explicit, each brigade commander received positive instruc- 
tions which were well understood; the whole line was to push 
forward from the beginning, keeping the road for their guide. 
Under no circumstances was there to be any pause in the advance. 

At 5.15 P. M. the word was given to move forward, the line 
of sharpshooters being 400 yards in the advance. ''So complete," 
says Rodes, "was the success of the whole manoeuvre, and so 
great was the surprise of the enemy, that scarcely any organized 
resistance was met with after the first volley was fired. They 
fled in the wildest confusion, leaving the field strewn with arms, 
accoutrements, clothing, caissons and field pieces in every direc- 
tion. The Rebel advance moved steadily; the front lines firing 
and loading as they marched, while the rear came to the front, 
fired and loaded as the march continued." 

Colonel Lee, commanding the Fifth-fifth Ohio, says: "The at- 
tack by Jackson was evidently a surprise, and my battalion was held 
in a useless position under a murderous fire, and the immense mass 
of fugitives passing by and through it conspired to dishearten 
and scatter the men so as to prevent any further stand to be 
made." 

General Carl Schurz gives his testimony to the same effect. 
"It was," he says, "an utter impossibility to establish a front; the 
whole line deployed on the old turnpike facing south was rolled 
up and swept away in a moment. The Rebels were formed in col- 
umns by divisions ; his skirmishers throwing themselves into the 
intervals whenever their advance was checked. They had at least 
three lines deep, the intervals between the lines being very short, 
the whole presenting a heavy, solid mass." 

Jackson struck the Eleventh Corps just exactly at 5.30 P. M. and 
no troops in the world could have stood the onslaught. General 
Schurz says : "My division has been made responsible for the 
defeat of the Eleventh Corps, and the Eleventh Corps for the 
failure of the campaign. We have been overwhelmed by the 



CHANCElvIvORSVILLE 357 

army and the press with abuse and insult beyond measure." "We 
have borne as much as human nature can endure," says Colonel 
Schimmelfennig. "It would seem as if a nest of vipers but waited 
an auspicious moment to spit out their poisonous slanders 
upon this hitherto honored corps. The fortunes of war sta- 
tioned the Eleventh Corps on the right of the line, and had 
Hooker placed his oldest and staunchest corps in their place, the 
result would have been the same." 

Every soldier of any experience knows that the bravest com- 
mand will go all to pieces when surprised, and the lions turn 
for a time into sheep. Just consider the situation : A peaceful 
summer evening, the troops exultant over the rumor that the enemy 
were in full retreat to Richmond, the men building their fires and 
getting their suppers ready, when suddenly, without a moment's 
warning, the camp is filled with hundreds of rabbits, squirrels, 
foxes, and dozens of deer — to say nothing of whirring quail, 
hawks, owls; and as startled eyes look into each other, like the 
stroke of the thunderbolt comes a deadly sweep of bullets, and 
then the Rebel yell from thousands of throats — a long line of gray 
figures suddenly emerging from the thickets, and their rifle 
barrels glinting iu the rays of the declining sun. Run ! why the 
Knights of the Round Table would have sprinted, and Leonidas 
and his Spartans would have caught up and passed the rabbits. 
Remember, too, that there was no place for the Yankees to make 
a stand until they reached Chancellorsville two and a half miles 
distant. It was every man for himself and the Devil to take the 
hindmost. Every soldier knows that it is almost impossible to 
rally troops on the run. At Brandy Station, a little later on, my 
regiment, the Fourth Virginia Cavalry, the crack command of 
Stuart's cavalry, were surprised by Gregg, and ran like sheep, 
and had all the fight taken out of them for that day. 

It is very easy to criticise the shamefulness of a panic, but 
not if you have been a participant in one yourself. 

Some one asked a Dutchman of Schurz's division what he ran 
for, and his answer was the answer of all : "What I skedaddle for? 
I runs because hell broke loose all around." 

Colonel Harting, of the Seventh Pennsylvania, says : "At about 
5.30 P. M. the regiments on our right were suddenly attacked — 
and they broke through our command. The first we ever knew 
of the enemy was that our men, when sitting on their knapsacks, 
were shot in the rear and flank. A surprise in broad daylight, a 
case not heard of in the history of any war; it was so complete 



358 JOHNNY REB AND BILI.Y YANK 

that the men had not time to take their arms before they were 
thrown into the wildest confusion. Some guns of Dieckman's bat- 
tery in front, without firing a single shot, broke through the whole 
mixed crowd, and we could do nothing but retreat through the 
woods." (Reb. Records, Vol. 25, p. 655.) 

Had it been an open country, where the Yankee batteries could 
have taken position, they could have stayed the rout, but it was 
only in open spots that the guns could be placed. Captain Mar- 
tin, of the Sixth New York Artillery, says: "My guns were 
served with great difficulty owing to the way the cannoneers were 
interfered with in their duties. Carriages, wagons, horses with- 
out riders, and panic-stricken infantry came rushing through my 
battery, overturning guns and limbers, smashing my caissons, and 
tramping my horse-holders under them." 

Another artilleryman says: "We would have to cut down the 
trees and clear away the underbrush before we could place the 
guns, and all this took precious time, and before we were ready 
the enemy would be before us." 

On and still on; through the scrubby underbrush, matted with 
vines, with here and there deep gullies choked with tangled briers 
and fallen trees, where they had to slide down and climb up. On 
and still on ; through bushy cedars and branching juniper, criss- 
crossed with wild runners as elastic as rubber and strong as wire, 
where the men had literally to force their way, tearing their clothes 
into ribbons. On, still on ; till emerging breathless they reached 
some abandoned field growing up in their primeval wilds — here the 
lines would be re-aligned and in every clearing would be found some 
fresh regiment of the blue-coats with a battery or two just unlim- 
bered, pouring shot and canister anywhere and everywhere ; when 
the gray column would sweep forward, pause an instant, level their 
guns and a crackling noise of musketry would burst out ; then, 
panting, gasping, they would plunge on again into the apparently 
impenetrable depths of the slashes. The skirmishers were soon 
mingled with the line of battle. None knew where they were 
going. Whole regiments became separated as they toiled and 
struggled through the twisted, tortuous undergrowth of bushes 
and saplings — the hustling of the shell, the song of the bullet fly- 
ing over the hears made them forget their labors, and they 
headed intuitively to where the sound of the cannon was the heav- 
iest. They had two and a half miles to go, and before half that 
distance had been traveled it grew dark in the bushes, but on, 
still on ; wet with perspiration, scratched and in tatters, the gray 



chancellorsviIvIvE; 359 

line, as restless as fate, made their way toward the redoubts of 
Chancellorsville. What with forcing their way through the path- 
less wilderness, loading and firing, but never falling back, the 
commands had become all mixed up in inextricable confusion, 
but the genius of the men drove them onward. Jackson seemed 
inspired ; he was galloping at full speed from one point to an- 
other, guided by the sounds of the battle. "Forward!" was his 
one command. His fiery ardor nerved his soldiers, exhausted 
as they were, to renewed efiforts. In one instance a murderous 
fire from a battery swept through a briery meadow across which 
a North Carolina regiment was marching. The men cowered 
before the storm. Jackson rode forward and cried : "Follow me, 
your general will lead you." To one of Ransom's regiments, that 
stopped to breathe, he said : "Follow ! No brave soldier will stop 
now." 

I have heard scores of soldiers around their camp-fires tell of 
their last view of Jackson, of his stern, set mouth; his eyes, gen- 
erally so calm and cold, now blazing with the light of victory. He 
issued his orders to his aides, short and sharp like pistol shots. 
A whole company of cavalry was attached to his staff as orderlies 
and he kept them all on the jump. One of them, Martin, told me 
that as he followed him in full tilt across a broom-sedge field he 
suddenly reined up before a group of three soldiers who were 
lying down, but busy loading and firing. Jackson asked them 
why they were not with their comrades in front. One raised 
himself up and said : "General, we can't, we are all three wounded." 
And he stuck his leg in the air, covered with blood. "Then," 
said Martin, "he told me to go back and get assistance, 
and he darted off and I never saw him again. 

It was like madness for Jackson to go ahead of his picket line that 
night. He intended attacking Hooker at the earliest dawn, and was 
anxious to place A. P. Hill, who was in reserve, in front, and his 
own troops, mistaking him in the darkness, fired on him and that 
volley set the whole Yankee artillery to firing; and he received his 
death wound. It was one of the North Carolina regiments that fired 
the fatal volley. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Oscar Heinrich, Chief Engineer of the Army, 
says : "The enemy soon opened with shot, shell, canister, grape and 
shrapnel. General Pender, who occupied a part of the front, became 
actively engaged. General Lane got scared, fired into our own men, 
and achieved the unenviable reputation of wounding severely Lieu- 



360 JOHNNY REB AND BII.I,Y YANK 

tenant-General Jackson and Major-General A. P. Hill. If Jackson 
had lived, what would have been the result !" 

The greatest praise came from his enemy, General Howard, 
who says: 

"Stonewall Jackson was victorious. Even his enemies praise 
him ; but providentially for us, it was the last battle that he waged 
against the American Union. For in bold planning, in energy 
of execution which he had the power to diffuse, in indefatigable 
activity and moral ascendency, Jackson stood head and shoulders 
above his confreres." 

And Hancock, the superb, gives this tribute : "The Confederate 
Army could better have lost a corps of thirty thousand men, than 
Stonewall Jackson." 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE PILLAR OF THE CONFEDERACY FALLS. 

Richmond was the Paradise of the convalescent. Several 
private hospitals were conducted by ladies, and if any soldier 
proved lucky enough to get into one of those, he considered him- 
self the happiest man ahve. He was nursed, petted, spoiled; he 
had the best books to read, the nicest fare, the softest of beds, 
and everything was done for his comfort ; he breathed the sweet 
perfume of flowers, he saw the fairest of company and followed 
his own sweet will if well enough. 

It was now early May, that dainty season of the year when 
Nature, bursting from the icy clasp of winter and the cold em- 
brace of March, threw herself, beautiful with a thousand charms, 
into the arms of youthful summer. Richmond had never looked 
to greater advantage; the trees decked in the most vivid green, 
Capitol Square was in its brightest verdure. 

One Sunday evening. May third, came glorious news to the 
Rebels, in a dispatch from General Lee, announcing that he had 
gained a great battle near Chancellorsville ; and that he regretted 
the wounding of Jackson. 

Of course the city was in a glow, but did not show its joy in 
demonstrations. There was no display, no triumphant strains of 
music, no burning bonfires or salvos of artillery; the people only 
drew a long sigh of relief, or flocked to their churches, whose 
bells tolled the summons. 

On the street bright faces could be met at every step, and 
the people carried their hearts upon their sleeves. There was 
an unwritten language which helped from eye to eye of strangers 
even, as the ypassed each other, which told hom unrivaled was 
the exultation, and how the city had but one heart to throb out its 
deep rejoicing. The happy children appeared happier as they 
bounded along the streets; the birds seemed to sing more 
sweetly, the roses bloomed more richly, the air was purer and all 
nature smiled in glad accord. 

Next day the ladies of Richmond, with their customary thought- 
fulness, visited every merchant, seeking contributions of food, 
clothing, medicines and money for the wounded. A vast amount 
of stores was collected and sent off. The depot of Broad Street 



362 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvI,Y YANK 

was filled at the coming of the trains, with long lines of ambulances- 
ready to take the wounded to the several hospitals. 

Thus a week passed, and when the sky was the color of irides- 
cent opal, when the waters of the James rippled with music, while 
the flush of proud satisfaction still lingered on every face, while 
even the most timid and fearful were beginning to feel that final 
success was both assured and near, while the whole populace were 
ready to break out into the chant of praise, there came the start- 
ling news that fell upon the community like a thunderclap : 

"Jackson is dead !" 

From mouth to mouth passed the intelligence that calm, lovely 
Sunday afternoon ; from street to street it spread until it wrapped 
the whole city in gloom. Men heard it and grew pale as they 
listened; shocked surprise was upon every face. He who told it 
and he who caught the import of the three short words gazed at 
each other in dumb amazement. Women were seen in the streets, 
all unmindful of the publicity, wringing their hands and weeping 
as bitterly as if one near and dear to their hearts had been taken. 
You see they loved him so ! 

"Jackson dead." 

"No!" they said, fighting off the fact. "It could not be, it is a 
rumor brought by some alarmist. These mistakes often occur; 
half truths are so frequently exaggerated. No ! Jackson could 
not be dead. He, the pride, the idol of the South, was not born 
to die until his mission had been accomplished. That which they 
had heard was folly ! No one could be expected to believe it. 

What ? Stonewall ! Our Stonewall dead ! the man who had 
stood in the leaden hail at Manassas, and been therein baptized 
into his world-renowned name; who had moved unharmed where 
death had been thickest at Kernstown, at Port Republic, and 
Cross Keys; who had breasted the iron hail at Gaines' Mill; 
who had courted death at Sharpsburg and Bull Run. He dead? 
No, they could never believe it. 

But still the wires brought bu.t one answer. To the thousand 
inquiries which flashed back, the keys of the instrument returned 
only one reply ; proclaimed but one sad, inflexible fact : 

"Jackson is dead." 

It was true. 

Then it was given to us to see what passionate love this strangely 
reserved, retiring "Man of Destiny" had acquired over the thoughts 
of his people. 

Grief, like a pall, settled over the city; men, women and little 



THE PILLAR OF THE CONFEDERACY FALLS 363 

children, nay, the whole Confederacy bowed its head in deep 
tearful sorrow ; a sorrow which came home to every heart in a 
throbbing pain, as if he had been one's dear flesh and blood. It 
was no use to reason over the matter, to ask why this should be 
so, why we thus grieved for a man whose face many had never 
seen, whose voice we had never heard. The pride and the love 
were there indisputably; and we could have given up all hope 
of our country's cause as easily as the life of Stonewall Jackson. 
Indeed, the two seemed identical, and the one was never after so 
bright when the other had passed away. 

Next day, about three o'clock in the afternoon, every bell be- 
gan to toll, and no one upon whose ears the mournful cadence fell 
but knew that all that was mortal of our loved leader had been 
brought to the city on the train. The day was at its sultriest ; 
the rays of the sun had poured down remorselessly on the brick 
pavements all the morning, and the air was dry and hot. The heat 
was reflected from the walls of the houses, from the streets, from 
the tin roofs, from the shining surface of the river, and rose in 
quivering, spiral undulations. It was an hour when the thorough- 
fares were generally as deserted as a village church-yard ; when 
window-shutters were tightly closed; when the city seemed to 
slumber until the going down of the sun; but this afternoon the 
effect of the tolling of those bells was marvelous. From every 
door poured the people, until dense crowds lined the streets. From 
the Broad Street depot down to Ninth Street, from thence to the 
Governor's house was a surging mass of humanity. 

They took the coflin from the train and placed it in the hearse. 
At the sight the people who were gathered round broke into 
lamentations; men pulled their hats over their eyes; soldiers 
were not ashamed to wipe the fast-falling tears from their rough 
faces ; women broke out in sobbing and the sorrow was universal. 
The hearse moved along slowly and with difficulty; the police 
tried to make way for the horses through the dense crowd which 
pressed so closely to the coflin. A poor woman running alongside 
wept all the way as she went; her dress betokened that she was 
of the lower ranks, and her long black hair had fallen about her, 
but she kept her place and would yield to none. Rich and poor, 
high and low, learned and ignorant, old and young, it made no 
difference then. 

When the cortege arrived at the Governor's mansion the cas- 
ket was borne sadly within the doors. Still the crowd lingered, 
and after a while his little child was brought out. Women gath- 



364 JOHNNY RKB AND BILI,Y YANK 

ered around it and touched its dress almost reverentially, and with 
streaming eyes remembered that this was all that was left to them 
of Stonewall Jackson. 

The day of the funeral, when the procession was to pass through 
the streets, a quiet, saddened crowd gathered along the pave- 
ments on the route. No noisy demonstrations of any kind greeted 
the ear. The people had had time to realize their loss. A solemn 
stillness brooded upon the whole scene, and the city stood rever- 
ently in the presence of her dead. No one seemed to be talking; 
there was all the hush and the serenity of the Sabbath about the 
day, and more of sadness than any Sunday we ever saw. 

The procession as it wended its way slowly through the 
streets was watched by thousands, but what they noticed most, 
that which they looked upon with streaming eyes after the flag- 
draped casket, was the riderless horse which two of Jackson's 
men were leading and which moved slowly behind the hearse. 

To the slow wail of the dead march Jackson's old veterans who 
were in the city at the time followed the battle-steed as they had 
done so many times before ; and as they walked they wept like 
children, strong men as they were. We watched them as they 
passed, wondering at the devotion, the indescribable enthusiasm 
with which this great soldier inspired his troops. 

The body of General Jackson lay in state at the Capitol after 
the procession had finally wended its way there and then 
dispersed. Thousands were admitted to look their last upon his 
calm face ; and many found it impossible to effect an entrance 
into the building, even at the expense of patient waiting in the 
great crush. Toward night, after the doors had closed to the 
public, a weather-beaten, war-worn, mutilated soldier demanded 
admittance, and requested to see the dead hero. 

He was refused. 

"It is too late," they said; "they are closing the coffin for the 
last time." 

But still he pressed forward and would take no denial. When 
one of the marshals of the day was about to force him back, the 
old soldier, with the tears rolling down his bearded face, exclaimed, 
raising the stump of his right arm : 

"By this arm which I lost for my country, I demand the priv- 
ilege of seeing my general once more." 

The appeal was all-powerful and the coffin lid was raised, and 
Jackson's old soldier gazed his last upon the face of his dead 
leader. 



the; pillar of the confederacy falls 365 

Of all the generals on the side of the South he, and he alone, 
had infused into the minds of the rank and file of the army un- 
questioning confidence and utter reliance. They believed in his 
star as the Imperial Guard believed in Napoleon; looked up to 
him with the same feelings with which the Russian soldiers re- 
garded Suarroff; they marched to battle with him as blindly, as 
trustingly as the Legions followed Caesar. No other gen- 
eral could get from the soldiers what Stonewall secured without 
an effort. The privates of the army adored him ; and no matter 
whether the ground was covered with snow, or rain poured in 
blinding torrents, or the sun beat with vivid force upon the heads 
and their feet sunk in the dust a foot deep, they would follow the 
old tattered uniform, that old faded gray hat, that kindly, rugged 
face, until nature itself would rebel. 

He was kind to his soldiers and always considerate of their 
wants and comforts. While many generals, lower in rank than 
he, yet proud of their position and of the gold lace and silver 
stars, were overbearing and haughty in their demeanor toward 
the privates, Jackson was as their elder brother. 

There was a young soldier of his division, a boy in years, who, 
stopping to fill his canteen from a branch on a forced march, be- 
came separated from his command, was taken suddenly sick and 
it was weeks before he rejoined his regiment. His colonel, dis- 
believing his tale of sudden illness, ordered him to the guard- 
house. He appealed to the brigadier, who refused to take any ac- 
tion in the matter. That evening as Jackson sat in his tent, with 
several of his generals around him, listening intently to their re- 
ports of the condition and efficiency of the men, there appeared 
suddenly among them a boy who could not speak for his choking 
sobs. One of the brigadiers, indignant at the intrusion, started 
to eject the offending private who dared to interrupt a council 
of war; but Jackson interposed and drew the weeping boy to 
him, who, when he found voice, narrated his wrongs. Jackson 
listened to his story without a word of interruption. He per- 
ceived the truth which spoke in every tone and shone in the eyes 
of the boy ; and with his own eyes humid, he arose and took the 
young soldier's hand in his and walked with him through the 
camp. Two strange figures ; he with his cap pulled low over his 
face, the child-soldier with the marks of tears staining his cheeks. 
Together they proceeded until the colonel's tent was reached. 

"Release this soldier from arrest," he said sternly to that of- 
ficer ; then turned and wended his way back to his tent. 



366 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

There are numberless instances which are treasured and 
repeated by his people as a monk tells over his beads, incidents of 
small moment in themselves, but all combining to prove the in- 
finite tenderness of the great, kindly heart, until we hardly know 
which to revere more, the genius of the warrior or the wonderful 
nobility of the man. 

One dark, cold, rainy night an ofificer went with dispatches to 
Jackson's tent. The. General after making him remove his drip- 
ping overcoat, insisted that he should remain all night and share 
his tent, as the weather was far too inclement to think of going any 
farther in the storm. They both retired, but about midnight the 
officer awoke, only to see Stonewall, heedless of the rest so much 
needed, kneeling by the fire and holding up to its warmth his 
companion's wet clothing, that he might have dry apparel to put 
on in the morning. 

Dr. Moore, of Richmond, tells the following incident : 

"The troops of Jackson, after a long forced march, when the 
order to halt having been given, had fallen on the ground utterly 
worn out and faint. The ofificer of the day went to the General 
and said : 

" 'General, the men are so tired they are all asleep; shall I wake 
them and set the watch?' 

" 'No,' he answered, 'let them sleep, and I will watch the camp 
to-night.' 

"And all night he rode round that sleeping camp, which had 
no other guard through the silent hours than the one lone figure 
and the stars. Refreshed and strong the men awoke at morning 
light, and were never told who had kept vigil over their quiet 
slumbers?" 

It was his fearlessness of which his men were proud, and for 
which they loved him most. A leader must be conspicuously 
brave to merit the admiration of his followers. At Gaines' Mill 
he sat on his horse in a terrific artillery fire, and as his division 
filed by him, they saw him composedly pouring some molasses 
from a canteen on a cracker and eating his frugal fare as if he 
were a thousand miles from danger. This was no matter of os- 
tentation ; what he did was as if no eyes were upon him. He never 
asked what men thought of him ; never sought to win the en- 
thusiasm of his men by "General Orders" of high-sounding words 
or by clap-trap deeds. He said nor wrote no word intended to 
enhance his own reputation. He was utterly incapable of making 
use of meretricious aid to spread abroad his own fame. He never 



The; piIvI^ar of the confederacy ealls 367 

tried to awe his soldiers or wrap himself in mystery so as to 
heighten the effect his daily presence would dispel; he never ar- 
rayed himself in gilt or bright insignia of rank to tell to the army 
''there goes General Jackson." If they did not recognize the old 
faded uniform discolored by storm and sunshine, if they did not 
know whose the eagle eye beneath the old gray cap, whose the 
clear-cut features, he might pass unknown for aught else there 
would be to inform them. 

But listen and you may catch a faint sound as of the murmur- 
ing sea. It increases every second until it reaches you in the mad 
shouts of the troops, who are screaming and yelling with almost 
insane enthusiasm. You ask the reason and they point you to a 
horseman who is approaching at a rapid gallop. 

"It can only be Jackson or a hare," they say, and General Jack- 
son it is, shrinking, as was his wont, from demonstration of any 
kind. He dashes on more rapidly as the shouts increase in vol- 
ume ; but see ! he has thrown down his hat and they are passing 
it along the lines, where it will reach him farther on. The yells 
are fairly deafening now, and men are throwing their hats wildly 
in the air. There is not a man of them who would not give his 
life for him freely. 

It was Jackson's great bravery, his decision, his coolness in 
times of danger, his determination, his utter forgetfulness of self 
and indifference to his own comfort which combined to make him 
one of the greatest men the world has even known. His supreme 
devotion to duty and intense faith in the cause for which he was 
fighting enthused the men with something of his own inspiration. 

How ceaseless, silent and deep must have been Ae influence 
which flowed from the example of his daily life into the lives and 
hearts around him. 

He had a home which drew him with bands of tenderest love, 
and yet he never asked for a furlough or was absent from the 
army a single day; nor did he ever pass a night away from his 
command. As his soldiers fared, so did he; he desired nothing 
better. 

He delighted in the simplest flower of the field, saw beauty in 
the world around him which escaped the eyes of most men ; he 
loved the song of birds, the prattle of little children ; and withal 
he was as tender, gentle and soft-hearted as a woman. The man 
who colored to the eyes when a young girl asked him for a but- 
ton from his coat, the man whose life was one of kindly deeds 
and Christian charity, was yet the inspiring genius of our war. 



368 JOHNNY REB AND BII,I.Y YANK 

His was the mind which never grew confused over the vast com- 
binations of the field; he it was who knew just when to strike 
and where; who aimed his blows at unexpected points, who fol- 
lowed up his advantages and turned them into assured victories. 
Like Cromwell, he could advance to bloody battle with a 
prayer upon his lips, and hurl the colermus on the foe with a 
hymn in his heart. No man dared scoff when he kneeled in 
prayer or when as his old darky expressed it : 

"De soldier was in de presence 
Ob his Hebbenly Brigadier." 

There is no confounding the innate religion of the man, his 
great faith, with fatalism. His piety enhanced his lofty attributes 
and challenged for living warrior and dying Christian the respect 
of the world. There is nothing that civilization so venerates 
as a thoroughly consistent walk of one who lives with the "crown 
of life in view." Jackson's great, earnest piety gave us an 
example of power which comes from the union of all that is lofty 
and ennobling in character when joined with the faith of the 
Christian. The sincerity, purity and elevation of his character were 
only brought into clearer view by his prominence as a leader of 
armies, and with both characters blended into one we can detect 
no flaw. 

It was the fateful day of Chancellorsville that Jackson, General 
Fitz Lee the cavalry commander, and the guide rode slowly up 
the old plank road, the orderly bringing up the rear. From the 
conversation of the two the soldiers knew that they were trying 
to find where the left flank of Hooker's army lay. He heard Fitz 
Lee tell Jackson that he could pilot him to the very spot. After 
riding several miles along that secluded, desolate road without 
hearing a sound or meeting a soul, for this unused track was 
little better than a blind path which had been a thoroughfare 
once but now had almost passed out of existence and was only 
known to the country people around, they met an old negro. Fitz 
Lee halted him and asked if he knew where the enemy was. 

"Yes, go up on dat little hill," pointing to a small elevation a 
hundred yards away, "and you can see dem Yankees as thick as 
bees." 

When the top of the elevation was reached a sight was before 
them so grand, so unexpected too, that the orderly had to bite 
his tongue to prevent a wild cheer from bursting from his lips. 

The three sat on their horses and looked down. There lay the 



TH^ PII^IyAR O^ THK CONFEDERACY FAI.I.S 369 

right wing of Hooker's army in perfect security. They felt so 
safe that they had not even thrown out pickets to guard the old 
plank road. In a large field, a half-mile away, thousands of blue- 
coats could be seen; most of them were getting ready for their 
meals, others were drilling in squads, and many were stretched out, 
resting from their fatigue. It w^as, as it afterwards proved, 
Blenker's Dutch Division. They were as unsuspecting as the chirp- 
ing, clacking brood of chickens ruffling their feathers in the barn- 
yard in lazy content, utterly unmindful of the hawk in the sky 
v<'hich descended slowly in gyrating circles toward the earth, then 
pausing in mid-air measured the distance before his final swoop. 
Yes! there rested the right wing, with an almost impenetrable 
thicket in their front, a rapid river in their rear, all unmindful of ill, 
all unconscious of harm, little imagining the tempest which the grim 
Prospero who sat on horseback not far off was soon to raise 
about their ears ; laughing in their beards like the doomed Ty- 
rians in the Thracian games when Shotmanez's Assyrian guards 
stood ready with dagger and sword to butcher them as they stood. 

What a spectacle ! Twenty thousand men on the plain, one 
man on the hill with almost as potent power in his hand as Mer- 
cury had when he borrowed Jove's thunderbolts to launch them 
at the Titans. A terribly impressive tableau, that needed no calcium 
glare or blue lights to heighten the effect. Jackson, with his 
stern, composed face as if cut in marble, his eyes flashing as he 
gazed, knowing that at last the foe was in his power. The great, 
the mighty Army of the Potomac was in his power at last. Surely 
Napoleon had not more cause to shut up his telescope at Marengo 
with the assurance that General Melas was in his toils and the 
battle won, as he ordered Kellerman to charge the Austrian 
center. 

Jackson spoke not a word, his iron self-control preventing him 
from giving any sign. Turning he rode back and said to the 
orderly : 

''Tell A. P. Hill to move his column up the road."* 

His mind, like Napoleon's, was with his comrades to the last. 

"Tell A. P. Hill to prepare for action," he said, and died. 

To General Lyce and his soldiers his loss was irreparable ; there 
was no man to take his place, while the vital blows his corps al- 
ways struck were never made again. 

*General Fitz Lee personally gave me these particulars. His last ride with 
Jackson is historic. 

24 



370 JOHNNY RKB and BIIvI^Y YANK 

When the keystone of the arch gives way the strength of the 
structure is gone ; though it may hold together for a time, in the 
end it is certain to crumble into a pile of ruins. 

General Jackson was the keystone of the Confederacy ; when 
he fell it was a question of time only how long the arch would 
withstand the pressure. 

When King Harold went down before the onset of the son of 
Robert the Devil, at Hastings, the hopes for the people were 
buried with him, and the Norman William and his royal court 
reigned over all England, 

\Mien Gustavus Adolphus was shot at a bal masque in Stock- 
holm the great Swedish-Russian-Prussian coalition, which he con- 
ceived and accomplished, was dissolved and Sweden sank from 
that hour. 

- When John the Fearless was assassinated on the bridge of 
Montereau the royal robes dropped from the House of Burgundy, 
never to be replaced. 

When the Protector drew his last breath at Somerset House 
the great fabric whose cornerstone was civil and religious liberty 
went down with a crash and a dissolute king and a pampered no- 
bility ruled over the realm. So with Jackson; when he fell the 
cause for which his great mind planned was doomed to ultimate 
defeat. 

The Neiv York Times, in its issue of May 5th, 1863, says of 
Jackson : 

"The interest excited by this strange man is as curious as it 
is unprecedented. A class-mate of McClellan's at W^est Point, he 
was considered slow and heavy. He has exhibited qualities which 
were little supposed to dwell in his rugged and unsoldier-like 
frame. Like Hannibal he is accustomed to living among his men 
without distinction of dress or delicacy of fare, and it is hard for 
a stranger to recognize him. 

"Every dispatch from his hand has its exordium : 'By the bless- 
ing of God.' 

"Those who have heard him uplift his voice in prayer, and have 
witnessed his promptness and daring in battle, say that once more 
Cromwell is working on earth and leading his enraptured soldiers 
to assured victory." 

On the 27th of June, 1862, in the battles around Richmond, 
when heroes were spent in fighting, Jackson sent to each division 
commander and his staff officers this sharp command: 



the: rii.L,AR OF the: confe:d^racy fali^s 371 

"Tell them this affair must hang in suspense no longer. Sweep 
the Held zvith the bayonet." 

At Cedar Run, when that born soldier, General Winder, re- 
ceived his mortal wound and his division was falling back in dis- 
order, it was Jackson who threw himself at them, stopped the 
rout and shouted to the men : 

"Rally! brave men, and press forward; your General will 
lead you! Jackson will lead you! Follow me!" 

The appeal was not in vain ; and the day was saved. 

Jackson could never brook delay. His staff not rising early 
enough, he made the cook throw away the coffee, pack up and 
drive off in the wagon. It was a lesson they never forgot. 

Jackson captured Harper's Ferry on Sept. 14th, 1862, by mov- 
ing his troops and planting them in the night, and General Mills 
found every line of retreat blocked. 

At his last battle, Chancellorsville, he appeared the very in- 
carnation of the genius of war. He led his men, and his voice 
was heard crying continually : 

"Forward! Press on!" And he would lean forward upon his 
horse and wave his hand as though to impel his men forward. 

When his troops began to break and fall out of line, his last act 
was to ride along the line unattended, and he kept saying: 

"Men, get into line. What regiment is this?" 

"Colonel," he cried to an of^cer, "get your men instantly into 
line !" Turning to an aide, he said : 

"Find General Rodes and tell him to occupy those works." 
He then added : 

"This disorder must be corrected; as you go along the right, 
tell the troops from me, to get into line and preserve their order." 



CHAPTER XU. 

AFTER chanci;u.orsviIvI.e;. 

A month of absolute rest followed the battle of Chancellors- 
ville; General Hooker was engaged m his old business of reor- 
ganizing the army; Lee was maturing his plan to carry the war 
into Africa. Had the Confederate Government's foresight been 
as good as their hindsight it would have discouraged any move- 
ment of the Army of Northern Virginia. Certainly for once the 
policy of "masterly inactivity" had been the best. 

It seemed as if the process of disintegration was in progress in 
the Army of the Potomac, and if left undisturbed would ruin its 
morale. Hooker's great host was fast losing confidence in itself, 
the people had lost faith in Hooker, while he was at daggers 
drawn with his most influential ofificers. 

Dissensions, bickering and backbiting were the order of the 
day. Mutual mistrust between the ofhcers high in command had 
gotten to that pitch when, as in the reign of terror, no shoulder- 
strap felt safe. Scores of officers, gallant fighters and true pa- 
triots, had been driven into retirement, or were eating their hearts 
out performing routine duties in the. rear. Politics and jealousy 
were the bane of the army. McClellan, the idol of the Army 
of the Potomac and its preserver after Bull Run, was a private 
citizen in New Jersey; Fremont, the central figure at the be- 
ginning of the war, was laid on the shelf; McDowell, that accom- 
plished soldier, turned down ; Fitz John Porter disgraced ; Pope 
cast from his pinnacle ; Burnside sent out West ; Franklin, a 
soldier every inch, retired to private life ; Casey sent to Coventry 
and many others of lesser note cashiered. Over the head of the 
commanding general the sword of Damocles hung suspended. 
Hooker expected it to fall on him every day; Averell saw his 
doom, and Crouch, the next in command and an object of envy, 
hit back lustily; he said in a dispatch dated May 12, 1863 : 

"The higher officers of this army do nothing but read, talk 
politics, play cards and grumble." 

Pleasanton, that dashing trooper whom the Southern cavalry- 
men regarded as the toughest fighter they ever met, was already 
marked for dismissal on account of his politics. Brooks, Sturgis, 
— all sent to the sliades. Plalleck, the commander-in-chief (whom 



AFTI^R CHANCEl^IvORSVILIvE 373 

McCIellan denounced in his book, page 137, as the most bare- 
faced villain in America), frowned upon many deserving officers, 
and his frown meant ruin. Stanton, the ablest Secretary since 
Carnot, was simply feared and hated by the army, but he kept 
them up to the mark, and his information on military affairs was 
marvelous and his industry untiring; still he made enemies of 
every man with whom he shook hands, and if he took a prejudice 
the object was sure to feel its effect. 

Even Meade said that, "When he was awakened by a staff officer 
who bore him his commission as general-in-chief of the army, he 
thought at first that he was about to be dismissed." 

The Navy took a hand also. Admiral Porter detested Butler 
and metaphorically kicked him every chance he had, and the re- 
doubtable Ben, whom President Lincoln said "was like a kitchen 
knife sharpened on a brick bat," met him more than half way; 
and so they went at it tooth and nail, might and main. It was a 
regular Kilkenny-cat affair. All, from the spurred, booted general 
down to the drummer-boy, were drawn into the whirlpool — all 
except one, who towered like a lofty granite shaft above the head- 
stones. And just here it may be said that no fair-minded man can 
read through the official records of the war without seeing that Lin- 
coln was the genius of the century. 

His dispatches were all so true — so full of horse-sense; his 
acute mind was like a reflector piercing the fog; his judgment 
was wise, and his deductions almost infallible. Among the "ca- 
hierage," envy's hiss, hatred's shriek and folly's bray he stood, 
simple and serene, with malice toward none and charity for all. 

The burdens resting on Lincoln's shoulders were so great that 
a man of common mold would have soon broken down. The 
Abolitionists on one side, the Peace party on the other, never 
ceased trying to disturb his equipoise. He was beset with poli- 
ticians, besieged night and day by swarms of office-seekers and 
place-hunters. The strained relations with England and France 
caused him many sleepless nights, yet calm, cool and resolute 
he pursued the even tenor of his way. No man ever saw him 
hopeless or with his passions aroused, and through all he stood 
unswervingly true to his purpose of preserving the Union intact. 

When, like fractious children, soldiers, statesmen, citizens grew 
faint of heart and weary of soul, it was to Lincoln they turned for 
consolation and comfort. 

When the States of the North, mourning, and, like Niobe, "all 
tears," over their hecatomb of dead, to Abraham Lincoln they 



274 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

turned and leaning their sorrow-bowed heads on that broad 
breast,' gained hope and inspiration from the beating of that 
mighty heart. 



PART IL 



CHAPTER I. 

IN THE CAVAI.RY. 

Each infantryman had happy dreams of a transfer to the cav- 
alry; but such transfer was harder to obtain, the soldiers used to 
say, than an invitation to dine with the commander-in-chief. 

To be sure they had done little to distinguish themselves, these 
cavalrymen of the Confederacy, having been mostly on post duty, 
the monotony of which had been relieved here and there by an 
occasional skirmish ; but then they never knew what hunger 
meant; they had camp darkies to do the stealing and cooking; 
and above all they had horses to ride. So it came to pass that 
many a time the infantry, which toiled on foot, worn and weary 
along the road, with shoulders chafed by the heavy guns, with 
waist rubbed bare of skin by the friction of forty rounds of am- 
munition, as they watched the dragoon cantering gaily along 
looking as if grim war was one vast holiday, felt their souls swell 
with envy unspeakable for this "something better than they had 
known." At last this envy took up its abode in their hearts 
like the devils of old, and became a chronic malady. 

The cavalry! Why, it was to their imagination what the Scot- 
tish Cuirassier, the body guard of Louis the Thirteenth, with 
its royal rank and privilege, was to the common musketeers of 
the line. 

It meant waving of plume, jingle of spur, dash of steed, and 
comfort generally. For all wild and reckless spirits who sighed 
for adventure, to whom hard toil, meagre fare and uneventful life 
were well-nigh unendurable, there was a glamour thrown over this 
branch of the service that was most fascinating, and they longed to 
enter the magic circle, and by the camp-fire plotted and planned 
and dreamed golden dreams of the time when they too would be 
horsemen and ride to the sound of the bugle. 

Not only to these adventurous spirits, revelling in anticipation 
of dash, foray and hostile incursion, was the hope of the cavalry 
service so attractive, but particularly was it promising to the lazy 
and timid, who looked upon a transfer as a relief from all toil, all 
trouble, and especially from all danger. It was a common saying 
that no one ever saw a dead man with spurs on; and every one 



378 JOHNNY RKB AND BILIvY YANK 

knew that four legs could get out of trouble more quickly than 
two. 

As for myself, I was so sick of being an infantryman that I 
would have hailed a transfer to any branch of the service with de- 
light, and night after night I sat brooding how to accomplish my 
wish. Nor was I alone in this; a squad of choice spirits aided me 
in the deliberation ; Courteny Washington, Willie Spellman and 
Boyd Smith all had forwarded their applications, and they were 
sanguine of success, for they were backed by powerful friends ; 
and no debutante every dreamed and talked more of her first ball 
than did they of what they would do in the ''Black Horse Cav- 
alry." 

I knew General Lee well ; his estate, "Arlington," joined the 
summer seat of my family, and the two were on intimate social 
terms ; my father was one of the pall-bearers of Washington 
Parke Custis, who was buried with impressive ceremonies from 
Arlington House. 

I dusted my jacket, borrowed a respectable cap, and went to 
General Lee's tent; a sentinel paced to and fro, but took no notice 
of me, and I soon found myself in the great commander's pres- 
ence. He greeted me gravely by a wave of his hand, and when 
I told him my name he took me by the hand and asked me sev- 
eral questions about my family, which, embarrassed as I was, I 
stumbled through ; then I mustered up courage to ask him to 
give me a transfer to the Black Horse Cavalry. He smiled, told 
me to write a personal application to him, and then dismissed me, 
the happiest soldier in the army. Thus I had the good fortune 
to be transferred to the cavalry, the paper bearing the date Ma)'' 
20th, 1863 ; and in the whole army there was no happier heart 
than mine. It is doubtful whether Nature is capable of yielding 
more intense pleasure than to find one's hopes unexpectedly 
gratified. 

Instead of cleaning the mud from my heels and gnawing dry 
hardtack diversified with branch water, I would hereafter swing 
along "a la knight and warrior" of old, who in history, fiction and 
song bear themselves proudly in the saddle. For what poet, painter, 
novelist or historian would dare present his hero walking on his 
own legs? Well, so I dreamed, and if the anticipations, no wiser 
grown by two years' experience, were all coiilcnr de rose once 
more, it made no difference then. 

Yet it was with a sad heart that I bade adieu to the old brigade, 
endeared by so many ties, ties ever of the strongest when bound 



IN THE CAVAI^RY 3/9 

together by common toil, danger and hardship ; a sad task enough 
to go from soldier to soldier, from comrade to comrade and take 
his hand in a farewell that might be eternal. 

Good-by, old brigade! surely a stauncher, braver set of men 
was never collected in any country, in any clime, for good or for 
evil, for grand incentive or great enterprise. And an afifectionate 
farewell to its commander, General M. D. Corse, who was a soldier 
among soldiers, and held the respect and confidence of every man 
who served under him. 

Old brigade, a long good-by. Never again to be with you, 
ragged, rationless, tramping on the forced march five miles an 
hour, drilling beneath the hot sun or charging under rain of shot 
and shell ; yet at this last hour only pleasant memories arise of 
the jovialness, the green woods of Fairfax, the old barracks in 
Alexandria — and then like the sailor who leaves his home with 
aching heart but to whose nostrils the salt air comes stealing 
along winning him to the waters, so I shake ofif my sadness and 
turn my face toward Richmond, there to report to the Depart- 
ment. It was the first of June. After having enjoyed the fur- 
lough (for blessings never come singly), en route I fell in with a 
kinsman on his way to join the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry. 

Orders were received to proceed to the Valley and thence to 
Maryland or Pennsylvania, or wherever our commands mtght be. 
How and in what manner this was to be accomplished the author- 
ities did not inform me. 

"Here's your passport, now go." That was all he said. He 
never asked if I had a horse or money wherewith to buy one, 
evidently thinking that it was none of his business. As many of 
the emancipated infantrymen, transferred like myself to the cav- 
alry, had neither, the dilemma might have been a serious one. only 
that we all had become so used to trusting luck that we per- 
mitted nothing to disturb us. We set out on a wild-goose chase, 
that of catching up with moving cavalry three hundred miles 
away. We tasted the first sweets of our new life when we traveled 
to Staunton by rail ; had we been infantrymen we would have 
been placed under charge of some officer ordered to collect scat- 
tered soldiers, consolidate them into one body and march them 
by easy stages to their destination. Several of these same bands 
were passed on the road, and I winked ecstatically to myself 
and grinned broadly in a self-abandon beautiful to behold. 

There was a hilarious crowd on board, composed of officers 
and cavalrymen returning from furloughs, sick leave and details. 



380 JOHNNY RE;B and BIIvL,Y YANK 

They were all fat and hearty and full of mischief. Woe to the 
unfortunate man under three score who chanced to come to the 
station in a citizen's suit. It would not be long before he would 
be called to the car window by some smooth-faced, harmless- 
looking soldier, whose eyes seemed "homes of silent prayer," 
benign, innocent and trusting. Hardly would conversation have 
begun before a comrade from the car window would suddenly 
blow a cornucopia filled with meal full in his face, completely 
Winding him, while the treacherous decoy would then snatch the 
hat from his head, and as the cars moved of¥ the luckless citizen 
would be left hatless and furious, while the shouts of merriment 
from the troopers inside could be heard above the noise of the 
train, 

"Why did you treat that man in such a fashion?" some ofificer 
would ask. 

"O, he is only a confounded citizen!" would be the reply. 

It was not strange that these rough, ragged soldiers should 
regard these able-bodied non-combatants with antipathy and con- 
tempt; their very presence was an insult to them. Indeed it re- 
quired greater moral courage to keep out of the war than it did 
to volunteer, for women would show their scorn for cowards in 
every way. If hints and ridicule proved unavailing, he would re- 
ceive from some fair unknown hands such anonymous gifts as a 
flannel petticoat, a cotton night-cap, a pair of pantalets, or some 
article of female gear, intimating that nature had made a great 
mistake when she molded him in the form of a man. 

On reaching Staunton and placing ourselves at the service of 
the provost marshal, he ordered us to proceed to Winchester, 
ninety miles distant. Proud of our new dignity and not feeling in 
the humor to tramp all the way, we showed him our transfer to the 
cavalry, and that marvelous paper obtained for us a passport to 
travel by the regular stage which left every morning for the 
Valley City. Reaching there we started on a hunt for the cavalry, 
which was somewhere between the Potomac and the Susque- 
hanna. 



CHAPTER II. 

GETTYSBURG. 

1 reached Winchester a day or two after its capture by Ewell, 
The place was crowded, — soldiers everywhere; not the ragged, 
siarved, foot-sore fellows that had rendezvoused in the town after 
the Antietam campaign, but convalescents making their way 
northward to join their commands. All were hopeful, eager and 
buoyant. Detachments of infantry under some officers were 
leaving every hour striking northward with a swinging gait. I 
made many inquiries as to Stuart's whereabouts, but none could 
give me any reliable information. I bought a very pretty little 
mare for $i,ooo Confederate currency, from a soldier, and I 
strongly suspected that she had been stolen, but it was no affair 
of mine. Mounting her I struck for the Potomac at Williams- 
port and crossed the river there. Shade of Pegasus, but I was 
radiantly happy! I felt as did Monte Cristo, "that the world was 
mine." How I exulted as I passed the groups of infantrymen 
plodding along the dusty roads whilst I was riding my own steed. 
It was with a heart so high that I sang one-half of the time and 
whistled the other half. The mare was a jewel, and her dog-trot, 
even and smooth, carried me over the ground at the rate of fully 
six miles an hour. That night I put up at a Dutch farmer's and 
had a glorious supper. The next morning they filled my haver- 
sack with cold bread, a huge hunk of beef, a jar of pickles, an- 
other of preserves and a whole chicken, and would not charge me 
a cent. In return I told the farmer to take his horses and con- 
vey them to some safe place. I certainly relieved his mind when 
I informed him that nothing else on his farm would be touched. 

I interrogated every soldier I met as to whether he knew any- 
thing of the cavalry, but not a word could I obtain that was satis- 
factory. Stuart seemed to have disappeared from the face of the 
earth. Well, I did not bother much; the glorious summer 
weather, the fruitful country, the queer Dutch farmers filled every 
hour with a novel delight. I determined to make my way to the 
front and trust to chance. 

On the morning of the ist of July, 1863, as I was riding leis- 
urely along the Emmitsburg pike, I heard the sound of mus- 
ketry ; but without stopping my horse I rode on until I saw in the 



382 JOHNNY REB AND BII^IvY YANK 

distance the spires of the court-house rising above the trees. The 
firing still continued, but it was scattered shots, with here and 
there the loud boom of a gun, merely an affair of a small skirmish 
I thought. After fifteen minutes of hard riding I came to a sud- 
den halt ; there beside a creek was a line of battle, and one glance 
showed me the gray and butternut of our men. I was perfectly 
astounded, for I had been told all along the route that Lee and 
his whole army were on the banks of the Susquehanna. 

I was halted, and requested to be carried to the commander. 

He was a soldierly-looking man. I explained who I was, 
showed him my transfer to the cavalry signed by General Lee, 
and asked him where I would be likely to find my command. 

He answered: "That is more than I know. This is Pettigrew's 
North Carolina Brigade. I have not seen a cavalryman since I 
have been in Pennsylvania." 

I then asked him if I could be of any service on his staff. He 
said, "No, this is merely an affair of the out-post, and the enemy 
consists of only cavalry." 

I then inquired, "What place is that over yonder?" 

"Gettysburg," he replied. 

Just as he finished, there came borne on the wind the far-off 
sound of cheering, and looking in the direction of the town I saw 
long lines of blue-coats defile from the place. 

"There is going to be some fighting after all," he said; "you 
had better get to the rear." 

And "get to the rear" I did, little thinking that it was to be 
my superlative good fortune to witness one of the greatest battles 
of modern times. 

I will write of this struggle, not only what I saw, but what I 
learned afterwards. 

Gettysburg is now cited as one of the seven decisive battles 
of the world. It certainly was the toughest stand-up, give-and- 
take fight in which Yank or Reb ever engaged, and it is the one 
battle above all others that America, North and South alike, will 
always take most pride in ; for on those massive rocks the high 
tide of Rebellion beat with such frightful force as to cause those 
everlasting hills to tremble, to totter and almost to fall. On those 
granite heights the flower of the Saxon race wrestled three 
whole days, with courage so true, a heroism so intense, a deter- 
mination so indomitable that the whole earth marveled and ap- 
plauded and Columbia smiled through her blinding tears, her 
pride almost conquering her grief, stretching forth her arms and 



ge^ttysburg 383 

gathering her sons to her heart, uncaring whethicr they fell under 
the Northern Stars or the Southern Cross. 

America in the course of time will, like all nations, fulfil her 
destiny; but in ages to come, no matter what befalls, there is one 
Mecca that will be forever sacred to the hearts of the people, and 
that is Gettysburg. The cause for which the blue and gray fought 
will be forgotten, but their splendid bravery never. 

As one of Lee's soldiers I know that never was the esprit de 
corps of our army so high as when on that eventful June day in 
'63 they crossed the Potomac on their way northward. There 
was not a private in the ranks who did not feel positively cer- 
tain of victory in the coming conflict, and the feeling among the 
soldiers, carefully fostered by their officers, was that by one su- 
preme effort they could end the war and conquer a peace. 

The vice of straggling, which came near being the destruction 
of the Confederate army in the Antietam Campaign the year be- 
fore, was not seen on the Gettysburg advance. Lee took sternly 
repressive measures, and there were but few coffee-coolers seen 
along the line of march. Strict orders were also issued that the 
artillerymen should not ride on the guns or caissons. 

It must be confessed, judging by the doctrine of chances to 
win the coming battle, the Confederates had ten to one in their 
favor. There was no danger of such an army as Lee's being 
routed ; no matter whether they were driven back, repulsed, or 
surrounded, their superb mettle would stand the strain, and such 
a thing as a panic or a rout to these veterans of a score of battles 
was impossible. The soldiers were well-clothed and well-fed; 
their ranks were full, and Longstreet's return from Suffolk with 
a part of his corps which was absent at Chancellorsville. served 
only to make assurance doubly sure. 

The Federal army, on the contrary, were disheartened by their 
failure in the previous campaign. The bad blood between their 
generals seriously affected the morale of the army; and the 
swapping of horses when crossing the stream, and the substitu- 
tion of Meade, an unknown man outside of his corps, for the 
dashing, fighting Hooker, had a bad effect upon the Federal 
army. 

Yet, as events proved, it was the wisest move that the Govern- 
ment could have made. The Federal army wanted a man in this 
campaign who would make no false manoeuvres — a safe, clear- 
headed, sagacious leader ; a trained soldier, one who would throw 
no chance away; and they got him. 



384 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

The Gettysburg Campaign was unique, and in some respects 
without a parallel in the annals of the world. In future ages 
military students will wonder how two armies moving in a thickly 
settled region, not a hundred miles apart, with no impassable 
mountains and no unfordable rivers, with regiments of Hght cav- 
alry and detachments of mounted scouts, could manoeuvre for 
days without any clear idea of each other's whereabouts. And 
this wonder amounts almost to a miracle when such an event 
happens in a country bisected with railroads, and with the tele- 
graph wires in every town. 

Hooker knew Lee was north of the Potomac somewhere ; but 
Lee did not even know where Hooker was until the 28th of June, 
so he states in his ofBcial dispatch. 

Five days had elapsed and not a word from Stuart ! 

In this campaign Lee had lost his right arm in the death of 
Stonewall Jackson ; and in Stuart's absence he lost his eyes, and 
he was like a blind man — sightless and with only one arm. 

Now where was Stuart, whose paramount duty was to keep the 
commander-in-chief informed of the movements of the Federal 
army ? 

When Stuart, on June 23rd, requested Lee's consent to make 
a detour around Hooker's army, General Lee answered the even- 
ing of the same day: 

''If General Hooker's army remains inactive, you can leave two 
brigades to watch him, but should he appear to be moving north- 
ward I think you had better withdraw this side of the mountain 
to-morrow night, cross the Potomac at Shepherdstown next day 
and move over to Frederick. You will, however, be able to judge 
whether you can pass around their army without hindrance, doing 
them all the damage 3^ou can, and cross the river east of the moim- 
tains. In either case, after crossing the river you must move on 
and feel the right of Ewell's troops. 

"I think the sooner you cross into Maryland after to-morrozv the 
better. 

"Be watchful and circumspect in all your movements." (Reb. 
Records, Vol. 27, p. 923.) 

Comte De Paris says : 

"Stuart submitted his plan to Lee, and has stated in his report 
that the latter authorized him to execute it, even pointing" out to 
him the contemplated movements of Ewell's corps, that he might 
join Early's division between Gettysburg and the Susquehanna. 
The of^cial account of the general-in-chief, no less positive, is 



GETTYSBURG 385 

directly at variance with this statement. According to this ac- 
count, Stuart did not propose the movement on the enemy's rear 
except as a means for delaying his passage over to the left bank 
of the Potomac. This consideration alone influenced Lee in al- 
lowing him to penetrate into Maryland east of the Blue Ridge, 
but upon the express condition that the cavalry should resume 
its natural place on the right flank of the army as soon as the 
enemy had started for the North. This, as it will be seen, was a 
concession made by Lee to the views of his lieutenant, and, as 
almost always happens in such cases, the somewhat vague terms 
used by the former were no doubt interpreted by the latter in a 
sense most suitable to his wishes. Hence a misunderstanding 
which raised a question of veracity between them, the consequences 
of which proved fatal to their cause." ("Battle of Gettysburg," 
p. 61.) 

Now Stuart loved the pomp and pageantry of war; a skirmish 
to him was like a drink of champagne; but the delight of his 
soul was a wild foray around the enemy's army, fording streams, 
collecting unsuspecting convoys, burning bridges, capturing 
wagon-trains, and returning to camp with laughter and song, 
laden with plunder. It was a fine role for a partisan, but not for 
the leader of the cavalry corps of the army. It would have gone 
hard with the chiefs of cavalry of Napoleon, Frederick, or a Von 
Moltke to have disappeared from view on the eve of a campaign. 

Stuart, on the receipt of General Lee's dispatch, lost not a 
moment. He left four thousand cavalry under the command of 
General Beverly Robertson at Winchester, Va., for the purpose 
of keeping General Lee advised of Hooker's movements. 

General Robertson was a bon vivant and ornament of the 
boudoir, and a superb dancer; but not a success as a cavalry 
officer ; and Lee never heard a word or received any aid what- 
ever from him during the whole campaign. 

Stuart took with him the brigades of Fitz Lee, W. H. F. Lee, 
and Hampton — in all thirteen regiments and three squadrons, 
together with Breathed's horse artillery of six guns. 

On the night of June 24th Stuart started with six days' ra- 
tions, and passed through the mountains near Thoroughfare 
Gap, thence on to Dranesville, where, if he had exercised his 
usual vigilance, he would have detected the march of Meade 
northward and would have turned back to join Lee, but instead 
he crossed the Potomac on the night of June 27th, thence to 
Rockville. and burned a long wagon-train. On the 28th, 29th, 
25 



386 JOHNNY REB AND BII^LY YANK 

and 30th he created havoc among the sutlers and teamsters, and 
on the afternoon of July ist arrived at Carlisle, men and horses 
both utterly exhausted and broken down ; and there ended the 
greatest fiasco ever committed by a veteran soldier. 

The Federal army was no longer a free agent. Meade was 
forced by the inexorable logic of events to find the invading army 
and attack at all hazards, wherever it might be. The crisis was 
so urgent that instant action was necessary. To find Lee and to 
assail and drive him out of the loyal States was an absolute ne- 
cessity. A failure to do so would give England just the chance 
she was waiting for to acknowledge the Confederacy; and then 
there was the Peace party at the North, that grew more and 
more defiant as the stay of Lee north of the Potomac was pro- 
longed. That the Government at Washington grew desperate, 
was shown by the tenor of their dispatches. Adjutant-General 
Williams on July ist telegraphed the corps commanders that in 
the event of defeat they should retreat at once to the defenses 
in Washington. (Reb. Records, Vol. 25, p. 463.) 

Stanton showed that his nerves were wrought up to the high- 
est tension, for he issued an order the like of which even the auto- 
cratic Czar or the iron-natured Frederick the First of Prussia 
would not countenance. Under date of June 30th, 1863, the 
Secretary of War promulgated this ukase : 

''Corps and other commanders are authorized to order to in- 
instant death any soldier who fails in his duty at this hour." 
(Reb. Records, Vol. 27, p. 415.) 

This order gave carte blanche to any officer to kill any soldier 
at will, if he thought he failed in his duty. The officer to be 
judge, sheriff and executioner; the condemned to have neither 
trial, voice, nor defense. If such a life-and-death order was ever 
issued in civilized warfare before, it was never recorded. 

The North never understood the South. Even the educated 
men, graduates of West Point, who ought to have known better, 
declare that it was Lee's object to subjugate and force slavery 
on the Northern States ; which piece of information would have 
been startling news to every private in the Rebel Army. 

General Doubleday says in his book : 

"This charge, which was to determine the fate of the campaign, 
and settle whether freedom or slavery was to rule in the North- 
ern States." (Page 188.) And further on he says: 

"It was not intended by Providence that the Northern States 
should pass under the iron rule of the slave power." (Page 192.) 



GETTYSBURG 38/ 

Future historians, in writing of the Civil War in America, will 
be struck by one singular fact in reading the various letters and 
telegrams of prominent civilians and officers of the Northern 
States during the wild excitement of Lee's invasion into Pennsyl- 
vania. It is this : The real sense of personal injury, that a Rebel 
army should invade the soil of a free State. The Federal soldiers 
might stable their horses in the fairest mansions of the South, 
and send from that section congratulatory dispatches to the Gov- 
ernment telling of the cotton, corn, and barns committed to the 
flames, and it was all right in the eyes of the Northerner ; but if 
a well-conducted Rebel army invaded a loyal State, the burst of 
frenzied indignation was simply overwhelming. It was as if the 
hosts of Lucifer had invaded heaven. 

Nearly all the great battles were fought on fields not dreamed 
of by the opposing commanders, and Gettysburg was no excep- 
tion to the rule. 

The Goddess of Fortune had smiled on the army of Northern 
Virginia for the past year, and success seemed beyond the shadow 
of a doubt; but the day Stuart started on his raid and got lost, 
the smile of the Goddess changed to a frown that only deepened 
as the campaign progressed. Every step that Lee took was a 
stumble, and every move that Meade made was lucky, until it 
seemed as if "the very stars in heaven fought for Sisera." 

It was most unfortunate that Lee received the tidings of Hook- 
er's whereabouts on the 28th of June, for that date was a most 
inopportune time ; had the news reached him a day earlier it 
would have found him at Gettysburg with his whole army united 
on the morning of the ist, and that would have insured him cer- 
tain victory. 

Had the news that Hooker had crossed the Potomac reached 
him a day later, he would have by that time been across the Sus- 
quehanna and investing Harrisburg. 

On the night of the 30th Stuart was vainly looking for Lee in 
the vicinity of York, and he passed within seven miles of Ewell's 
column en route to Gettysburg. Had they effected a junction it 
would have saved Stuart's command from a long, fruitless, ex- 
hausting march, which impaired the esprit dc corps of the troop- 
ers and broke down the horses. 

Bates, in his book, says: 

"It was one of those accidental circumstances which seemed 
to favor us in this campaign, while almost every incident at Chan- 
cellorsville was asrainst us." 



388 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

Then the untoward event of Pettigrew's men being barefoot 
caused Gettysburg to be the battle-field, and gave to Meade the 
strongest position in the region. 

Who would have dreamed that a cavalry detachment would 
have made such a dogged, plucky struggle as Buford made. 

For an hour General Heth, C. S. A., held the fate of the 
country in his hand ; had he advanced with his division he could 
easily have swept Buford aside and occupied the hills around Get- 
tysburg. Heth was a good soldier, but he was one of the safe, 
cautious kind, and Buford raising such a racket caused him to 
halt and send for reinforcements. 

Napoleon would have bestowed upon Buford the baton of a 
grand marshal for such a magnificent fight. 

Buford's soldierly eye appreciated Gettysburg as a defensive 
point, and his struggle to hold off Heth's division until the Union 
infantry came up was simply superb. 

Then it was a most unlucky circumstance that placed Hill in 
the front on the first day's battle. Had Longstreet or Ewell 
been in his place, the history of Gettysburg would have been 
changed. Hill never before had an independent command ; he 
had always served under Jackson. In the battle of the first of 
July he manoeuvred and acted as the veriest tyro. Instead of 
following Jackson's tactics pursued at Kernstown, Cross Keys, 
and Port Republic, Hill attacked in detachments. His corps was 
the very flower of Lee's army. 

When Doubleday took command at 10.30 A. M. he formed 
Wadsworth's division, consisting of two brigades, in a most ad- 
vantageous position — a stretch of woods that ran through an 
open field on top of a hill, about two hundred feet wide and 
about double that distance in length, known as McPherson's 
woods. In that grove was his point d'appiti. He placed 
Meredith's Iron Brigade, consisting of the Nineteenth Indiana, 
Twenty-fourth Michigan, Second, Sixth and Seventh Wisconsin 
regiments, with Stone's and Battle's brigades on their right and 
left respectively. The brigades of Robinson's division, ten regi- 
ments in all, were placed in the rear and threw up hasty en- 
trenchments. 

Heth's soldiers were full of fight, and he gave Archer permis- 
sion to advance and let that officer make one of his character- 
istic rushes without any supporting force. 

Archer crossed Willoughby Run and aimed for the w^oods, and 
as a fearful artillery-storm of projectiles had swept through the 



GETTYSBURG 389 

place he doubtless thought the Yankees had retreated. He was 
soon undeceived, for Meredith's soldiers had clung to the spot, 
and received him with a furious discharge that broke his line, and 
the fine regiments of Meredith made a charge and drove him 
headlong across Willoughby Run, taking Archer and one thou- 
sand of his men prisoners. 

In accordance with all military rules, Davis should have sup- 
ported Archer, but he received no order until the remnant of 
Archer's brigade reached a place of safety, and then was told to 
go ahead, and he made a spirited charge and ran straight into 
Cutler's Union Brigade, consisting of the Ninety-fifth, Seventy- 
sixth, and One Hundred and Forty-seventh New York, Fourteenth 
Brooklyn and the Fifty-sixth Pennsylvania. 

Their forces were about equal, and after a give-and-take fight 
Cutler retreated some three hundred yards. 

Doubleday, who was watching the contest from a near-by hill, 
sent the Sixth Wisconsin, and the arrival of that crack command 
turned the scale, for Davis was attacked both in front and flank. 

He struggled against these odds expecting every moment that 
assistance would arrive, but he was left to his fate and his fine 
brigade was knocked into smithereens, and two of his regiments 
surrendered. Heth was stunned for a time, and then sent for 
Pettigrew's and Brockenbrough's brigades, which should have 
supported Davis. Some time was wasted after those troops 
V ere drawn up. Heth waited until Hill arrived; and that offi- 
cer deferred action, ordering his numerous batteries to open. 
Why he did not send his troops in, he does not state in his ofifi- 
cial report. While his soldiers were resting, Rowley's and Rob- 
inson's (Federal) divisions, fourteen regiments in all, reached 
Gettysburg, and coming in a run, those fresh troops were hastily 
but judiciously formed. Thus a golden opportunity had been 
frittered away. 

Then, think of sending O'Neal's brigade against this force un- 
supported ! The Confederates were simply torn to pieces, losing 
503 killed and wounded, and 193 taken prisoners. 

Next Iverson was pushed forward and attacked the two Fed- 
eral brigades of Baxter and Paul. He made a gallant fight 
against these odds, when Cutler's brigade struck him on the 
fiank and his force went to pieces; losing 320 in killed and 
wounded, and 508 captured. 

Iverson says in his report: 

"When I saw white handkerchiefs raised, and my line of battle 



390 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

Still lying down in position, I characterized the surrender as dis- 
graceful ; but when I found afterwards that 500 of my men were 
left lying dead and wounded on a line as straight as if on dress 
parade, I exonerated, with one or two disgraceful individual ex- 
ceptions, the survivors, and claim for the brigade that they nobly 
fought and died without a man running to the rear." ( Reb. Rec- 
ords, Vol. 27, p. 579.) 

It would have been an easy matter for Hill to flank the 
Federals and forced them to withdraw. He knew that Ewell was 
close behind him, and why he should have attacked the enemy 
in driblets will ever be a source of wonder. 

Daniel's brigade, after Iverson's butchery, drove all alone 
against the same Federal force, and his command was wrecked. 
Ramseur came next and shared the same fate. Then Lane, Per- 
rin, and Scales made the first concerted move during the day, and 
the Federal line was broken at last. But it is doubtful if they 
could have driven the Federal troops out of their barricade, 
thrown up at the edge of the town for just such an emergency, 
had not Early, of Ewell's corps, arrived with his fresh division, and 
forming in line, supported by a powerful artillery fire, advanced. 

Thus it will be seen that Hill put in action Archer's, Davis's, 
Brockenbrough's, Pettigrew's, McGovern's, Ivison's, Scales's, 
Thomas's, Lanes's, Daniel's, Ramseur's, and O'Neal's brigades — ten 
in all. 

These troops were veterans, trained under Jackson, and with as 
proud a record as Napoleon's Imperial Guards, and they believed 
themselves invincible ; yet for the first time in all these years 
their faith was shaken, for they had been brought to a stand-still 
by a force inferior to their own. Now it must be understood that 
the corps d'armee of the opposing forces were not of the 
same size. The Confederate army had three, each one denoting 
one-third of its strength. The Federal army had seven, repre- 
senting one-seventh of its strength. Thus the First Corps, num- 
Ijering 11,200 men, had held its own all the morning of the ist 
against double their number. They fought as gallantly as ever 
men did, and their official loss was 6,024; more than half their 
number. They lost but few prisoners except when crowded in 
the streets of Gettysburg. 

Just here I may state that on the night of the ist of July I fell 
in with the friend of my boyhood. Captain William Broun, Com- 
pany F, Forty-seventh Virginia Infantry, of Brockenbrough's bri- 
gade, and he gave me a graphic account of the fight. 



GETTYSBURG 39 I 

Captain Broun was a clear-headed, nervy officer, and a braver, 
stauncher soldier Virginia never gave to the Confederacy. He 
said: 

"When near Willoughby Run, on the appearance of the enemy, 
Archer's brigade was thrown forward to clear the front of wdiat 
was considered merely cavalry videttes, but which proved otherwise 
and resulted somewhat in a surprise, wherein General Archer and 
quite a number of his command were made prisoners by the Fed- 
erals. At once the balance of the division was deployed in line, 
Davis's (Mississippi) brigade on the left of the road, Brocken- 
brough's (Virginia) brigade on the immediate right of the road, 
and Pettigrew's (North Carolina) brigade on the right of Brock- 
enbrough's, with artillery (Purcell's battery) in position on the 
crown of the hill in rear of Brockenbrough's brigade and near the 
road. In the position thus described, the troops on the right of 
the road were subjected for some hours to artillery fire and wit- 
nessed the varying results of the fighting taking place on the left 
of the Cashtow'n road until the afternoon, when a general advance 
seems to have been made. This movement by the Confederates on 
the right of the road was observed at once by the enemy and meas- 
ures taken to meet it on the open ground between the Cashtown 
road and the bluff of timber in which General Reynolds was killed. 
To do this, a Federal brigade, which had been previously either en- 
gaged or in support of its lines on the left of the road, changed 
front on its left regiment, and as Brockenbrough's brigade had 
crossed Willoughby Run and ascended the hillside nearest Gettys- 
burg, met us face to face about fifty or sixty yards distant. Across 
this open field then took place one of the most stubbornly contested 
musketry fights in which I w^as ever engaged. 

"Our (Brockenbrough's) brigade pushed steadily forward; step 
by step the enemy were pressed back, but contesting soldierly, stead- 
ily and stubbornly every inch of ground, and at no time exhibiting 
either unsteadiness of action or purpose, but a determination to 
resist to the utmost all efforts to force them backwards. Thus 
the contest waged on and on, beyond the old barn on the left of 
the brigade line to nearly the seminary buildings, when Pender's 
division relieved us, the fighting line, our ammunition exhausted, 
and continued the pursuit on to and through Gettysburg, I sup- 
pose, 

"At the old barn referred to, which was occupied by the enemy, 
occurred an instance of their firing on the rear of the brigade, 
after it had passed some distance beyond and the bam was well 



392 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

within our lines. Major Lawson. of the Fifty-fifth Virginia, sent 
hack a detail, which stopped this rather unusual mode of warfare, 
and the annoyance ceased. 

"The loss of the brigade was severe both in officers and men, 
when considered from the standpoint of its effective strength, which 
was not over i.ooo or i,ioo muskets." 

It seems incredible that A. P. Hill, who had learned the art of 
warfare under such a master as Stonewall Jackson, would not 
have asked himself what he would have done in this case. Had 
Hill followed Jackson's tactics at Port Republic and Cross Keys 
he never would have sent his brigades in singly to attack a 
strong, fortified position. McPherson's woods, the key of the 
battle-field, could easily have been turned by a flank attack on 
the right. 

The Federal commander, General Doubleday, wrote a volumi- 
nous account of this battle, every phase of which he witnessed 
from his post of vantage, and it was but natural that he should 
claim all the glory and prestige for his men, yet in all fair-minded- 
ness he felt constrained to say : 

"There had been a great lack of co-ordination in these as- 
saults, for they ^^'ere independent movements, each repulsed in its 
turn." ("Chancellorsville and Gettysburg," p. 145.) 

Had Hill handled his troops with only mediocre ability, he 
would have routed the First Corps, for the simple reason that he 
outnumbered them, and he had plenty of time to finish the work 
before Doubleday was reinforced. 

Hill commenced the attack at 10 A. M., and Howard, with the 
Eleventh Corps, did not reach the field until 12.45 o'clock. 

There was no excuse for this succession of military blunders ; 
there were no deep ravines, thick coppices or swamps to hide an 
ambushed force or delay the advance ; on the contrary, the whole 
country was open, and the men of the opposing force fought 
under the eyes of their respective generals. 

Any one versed in military art, on viewing the scene of the 
first day's fight at Gettysburg and studying the topography of 
the battle-field, following intelligently the movements of the 
respective troops, must confess that Hill was out-manoeuvred and 
out-fought by Doubleday. 

But little attention has been accorded the first day's battle at 
Gettysburg; but it was the day most pregnant for weal or woe 
for the South. 

No soldier, no matter what uniform he wore, can denv that 



GETTYSBURG . 393 

Doubleday's fight for time was an heroic one. That his men, for 
the first time contending on their own soil, fought hke Trojans, 
every Rebel who was on that historic field must admit. 

'*We have come to stay," chanted his men as they took posi- 
tion ; and they did stay. 

"Meredith's Iron Brigade lost 1,153, Cutler's brigade of six 
regiments lost 2,128, Paul's brigade lost 1,041, Rowley left 644 
men on the battle-field, Biddle had 896 men killed and wounded, 
and Stone's loss was 853." (The losses of the Army of the Po- 
tomac. Reb. Records, Vol. 38. p. 219.) 

When Ewell hurried to the assistance of Hill he rode to the 
crest of Oak Hill, and sv^'eeping the field with his glass he took 
in the situation at a glance. He saw that the spot on which he 
stood dominated everything, and he ordered ten batteries to take 
position and enfilade Doubleday, while Early's division attacked 
Howard. Then Hill for the first time put his whole force in 
motion ; and under the combined advance, the First and Elev- 
enth corps collapsed. 

Gordon on the left and Hill on the right burst like a tornado 
upon Howard and Doubleday, and although some regiments of 
the First Corps kept their alignment and organization intact until 
they reached the town, they were swallowed up among How- 
ard's frenzied men, who rushed wildl}'- through the streets 
of Gettysburg. Some of the Union batteries tried to get in posi- 
tion on the streets and defend the town, but the onrush of the de- 
moralized Federals was too great, and all the batteries Hmbered 
up and went in a gallop to the rear of Gettysburg, where Stein- 
wehr was rallying the fleeing troops on Cemetery Heights. 

With a yell of victory on their lips, the men of Rodes and 
Gordon entered the town at two different points and poured 
a volley into the struggling mob. One of Gordon's men told me 
that after the first discharge nearly every Yankee soldier threw 
himself on his face and remained motionless until the Rebels were 
almost treading on them, and then the blue-coats cried out that 
they had surrendered. 

Fighting in the streets of a town was of common occurrence 
in the Old World, but Gettysburg was the only place where such 
a thing happened in America. It was a glorious sight for a 
Rebel soldier to behold the fragments of two crack Federal corps 
surge in wild confusion through the highways and byways of Get- 
tysburg. 

There was one man who beheld the rout, knowing the weighty 



394 JOHNNY REB AND BII,LY YANK 

import and the tremendous consequences involved, and that was 
the Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Army, who halted 
his horse on the top of a hill overlooking the town. The hour he 
had dreamed of had come at last. 

It was half past four o'clock ; Hill's and Ewell's corps were on 
the ground ; thirty thousand muskets and eighty guns were in 
line; thirty thousand veterans were vibrant, pulsating, mad to 
advance ; men not brought in a line and fighting from a sense 
of pride and duty, but soldiers whose hearts were thrilled with 
victory — animated by an impulse that makes an army invincible. 

The Federal army was scattered miles apart; what a chance 
that fortune had placed in Lee's hand, not merely to take the 
Heights, but to cripple, if not to crush, the Army of the Potomac 
in detail. 

The Fates had spun their web, and on that eventful evening the 
Goddess Opportunity offered Lee the Southern Confederacy on 
a golden platter. 

Lee had but to form his two corps in line — or even one — and 
press onward. 

The Federal detachments were thronging the highways ; and 
to the unmilitary reader it is best to explain that when an army 
is on the march it is stretched out for miles, with all the impedi- 
menta of artillery, caissons, wagons, ambulances, &c. An attack 
is sure to throw all the vehicle drivers into confusion and jam 
the road, and it takes much time to send them to the rear, the 
infantry having to deploy on each side to let them pass. No 
fight can be made in column — a line has to be formed, and if the 
enemy in line of battle strikes a body of soldiery strung out on a 
turnpike it has every advantage of attacking from front and both 
flanks. When there are several roads, the attacking forces have 
trebly the advantage. 

Had Meade made a contract with Lee to deliver the Army of 
the Potomac into his hands, he could not have disposed his forces 
in a finer fashion for the accomplishment of that end. 

The two strongest corps of Meade were, for the time, scat- 
tered to the winds, and the other five were not in supporting 
distance of each other. 

The largest, the Sixth corps, was at Hanover, twenty miles 
away. 

Comte de Paris, a Federal officer, says : 

"The situation of the Federal army was critical in the ex- 
treme ; they had brought into action ten brigades of infantry, 



GETTYSBURG 395 

two of cavalry, and ten batteries; about sixteen thousand five 
hundred men in all, against fourteen brigades of the enemy's 
infantry, and twenty batteries of artillery, aggregating more than 
twenty-two thousand men. 

"The Federals had no more than five thousand men left in fight- 
ing condition. 

"The First Corps was reduced to 2,450 men. Out of 11,000 men 
nearly 4,000 had been left on the field of battle, and about 5,000 
were taken prisoners; the rest had been scattered. 

"The fugitives crowded the roads leading out of Gettysburg; 
they hurried in the direction of Taneytown and Westminster, car- 
rying confusion and discouragement into the ranks of the regi- 
ments that were coming to their assistance. 

"Steinwehr had made good use of his two small brigades in con- 
structing earthworks. Despite these wise precautions, there was 
still wanting sufificient troops to occupy the position thus pre- 
pared. 

"It had taken them one hour thus to reform under the eyes of 
the Confederates ; and the historian will now ask, as the Union- 
ists themselves were then asking each other in astonishment, how 
is it that these adversaries, generally so prompt in striking blow 
after blow and to take advantage of success, have allowed 
them this precious respite, instead of gathering by a final effort 
the fruits of their victory? When Ewell entered Gettysburg in 
the midst of a mass of fugitives disarmed by fear, and was picking 
up prisoners by the thousand, the sun, which was still high in the 
heavens, promised him more than three hours of daylight ; he 
had time, therefore, to deliver and to win a new battle. The two 
divisions of Early and Pender — that is to say, one-half of the Con- 
federate forces — had not been in action more than one hour; 
two of their brigades had not been at all engaged ; victory, more- 
over, imparted strength and confidence to the most exhausted. 
In short, more fortunate than their adversaries, the Confederates 
had in their midst the respected chieftain whose slightest wishes 
had hitherto been eagerly obeyed. Lee was on the ridge of 
Seminary Hill before half-past four, whence he surveyed the bat- 
tle-field around him so stubbornly disputed by Hill — at his feet 
the town of Gettysburg, which Ewell had just entered, and in 
front of him the slopes of Cemetery Hill, which the Federals 
were scaling in great confusion. Hill and Longstreet were at his 
side, Ewell only two-thirds of a mile from his post of observa- 
tion. Hill's corps, as we have stated, had not seriously harassed 



396 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvV YANK 

Doubleday's retreat. Lee did not order him to cross the wide 
and open valley which separates the heights of Seminary Hill 
from those of Cemetery Hill in order to attack the Federals in 
the position along which they were forming with so much dif^- 
culty. This valley and the opposite slopes, which the next day 
were to be so thoroughly drenched in blood, did not, however, 
present any formidable obstacles. It is true that the Southern 
General, on perceiving that Ewell was pressing the enemy closer, 
sent him an order by Colonel Taylor to attack the hill, if he could 
do so with any chance of success, as soon as he saw his troops in 
the town ; but he had himself very serious doubts on the subject, 
Colonel Long, whom he had charged to make as thorough an 
examination of the enemy's positions as possible, having reported 
that they were very strong. So that, while ordering Ewell to 
make the attack, he recommended him at the same time, accord- 
ing to the language of his report, to avoid a general engagement 
so long as the army had not arrived on the ground. According 
to Colonel Taylor, who was the bearer of the dispatch, the order 
to attack the enemy was much more peremptory, and Johnson has 
since stated to the latter that he did not understand why it was not 
carried out. Lee would seem to have been disposed to aim at a 
partial success dislodging the Federals from their last retreat, but 
in order to achieve this result he did not wish at this moment to 
risk a new battle with the only forces under his control. It was 
for this reason that he had not pushed the Third Corps forward. 
This extreme caution may be condemned, but the motives can be 
easily understood." (Comte de Paris's Battle of Gettysburg, pp. 
123, 124, 125.) 

"It has been said, and very justly, we think, that if Jackson had 
been alive and in command of his army corps on the ist of July, 
he would not on that day have left Cemetery Hill in the hands 
of the Federals. The fact is, that Lee, having the utmost confi- 
dence in his lieutenant, would not have hesitated to risk a great 
deal in order to afford him the means of striking a decisive 
blow." (Ibid.) 

Bates, another Federal general, who was present, says in his 
book (p. 80) : 

'*The insignificant division of Steinwehr would alone have 
presented but a feeble barrier to a powerful and triumphant foe 
intent on pushing his advantage, and to the left where the country 
is all open and nature presents no impediment to an advance, it 



GETTYSBURG 397 

could have been Hanked and Steinwehr easily turned out of his 
position." 

It detracts nothing from Napoleon's reputation that a lack of 
decision caused him to forfeit a great victory at Borodino; nor 
from Frederick the Great, who fled in despair at the battle of 
Rosbach ; nor from Wellington, when from inexcusable carelessness 
he came near losing his army at Torres Vedras. The failure of 
Gettysburg has been charged to Stuart, Longstreet, Ewell, and 
Johnson, but the truth is that Lee himself at the supreme hour failed 
to rise to the occasion. 

Man of- woman born, no matter how great, makes mistakes, 
and it is but natural that for years Lee's soldiers, who so loved, 
trusted and admired him, should have laid the blame on his 
subordinates for failing to carry out his orders. But on the 
evening of the ist he was on the battle-field in person; there 
was no need for Jupiter to delegate to another the casting of the 
thunderbolt. 

Colonel Walter Taylor, Lee's Chief of Stafif, holds his com- 
mander blameless. He says : 

"General Lee witnessed the flight of the Federals through 
Gettysburg and up to the hills beyond. He then directed me to 
go to General Bzvell and say to him that from the position he then 
occupied he could see the enemy retreating over the hills without 
organization and in great confusion ; that it was only necessary 
to 'press those people,' in order to secure possession of the 
heights beyond ; and if possible, he wished him to do this. In 
obedience to these instructions I proceeded immediately to Gen- 
eral Ewell and delivered the order of General Lee. No further 
steps were taken, as Ewell was probably overcome by physical 
fatigue and mental excitement." 

General Lee's report does not back the account of his chief of 
staff ; he says : 

"It was ascertained from the prisoners that we had been en- 
gaged with two corps of the army formerly commanded by Gen- 
eral Hooker, and that the remainder of that army, under General 
Meade, was approaching Gettysburg. 

"Without information of its proximity, the strong position 
which the enemy had assumed could not be attacked without 
danger of exposing the four divisions present, already weakened 
and exhausted by a long and bloody struggle, to overwhelming 
numbers of fresh troops. General Ewell was therefore in- 
structed to carry the hill occupied by the enemy, if he found it 



398 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

practicable, but to avoid a general engagement until the arrival 
of the other divisions of the army." 

General Ewell says in his report: 

"On entering the town I received a message from the com- 
manding general to attack the hill if I could do so with advan- 
tage. I could not bring artillery to bear on it, and all the troops 
with me were jaded with twelve hours' marching and fighting." 

It is clearly shown that Ewell received no peremptory order to 
advance. "You may fight if it pleases you," were his instruc- 
tions. 

Lee had so long relied upon Jackson, that in this supreme 
hour he did not rise to the occasion as Stonewall would. The 
Rev. J. William Jones, an intimate friend of General Lee, says : 

"Prof. James J. White and myself were in his of^ce in Lexing- 
ton and we chanced to go in as he was reading a letter making 
some inquiry about Gettysburg. He said with an emphasis that 
1 cannot forget, and bringing his hand down on the table with 
a force that made things rattle : 'If I had had Stonewall Jackson 
at Gettysburg I would have won that fight and a complete victory 
which would have given us Washington and Baltimore, if not 
Philadelphia, and would have established the independence of 
the Confederacy.' " 

Napoleon likened a campaign to a game of chess ; and on the 
evening of the ist the Federal game was not worth a candle. 
The First and Eleventh Corps routed the Second (Sickles's) at 
Taneytown, the Third at Emmitsburg, the Fifth at Hanover, the 
Sixth at Manchester. 

That was the time to bring everything to the charge; castles, 
knights, bishops, and pawns. Jackson would have done it ! 
There was one in that hurly-burly who wanted to do that very 
thing; and that was Gordon, afterwards Lieutenant-General in 
tlie Army of Northern Virginia. He says in his book : 

"The whole of that portion of the Union army in my front was 
in inextricable confusion and in flight. They were necessarily 
in flight, for my troops were upon the flank and rapidly sweeping 
down the lines. The firing upon my men had almost ceased. 
Large bodies of the Union troops were throwing down their 
arms and surrendering, because in disorganized and confused 
masses they were wholly powerless either to check the movement 
or return the fire. As far down the lines as my eye could reach, 
the Union troops were in retreat. Those at a distance were still 
resisting, but giving ground, and it was only necessary for me 



GETTYSBURG 399 

to press forward in order to insure the same results which invar- 
iably follow such flank movements. In less than one-half hour 
my troops would have swept up and over those hills, the posses- 
sion of which was of such momentous consequence. It is not 
surprising, w4th a full realization of the consequences of a halt, 
that I shoud have refused at first to obey the order. Not until 
the third or fourth order of the most peremptory character reached me, 
did I obey. I think I should have risked the consequences of dis- 
obedience even then, but for the fact that the order to halt was 
accompanied with the explanation that General Lee. who was sev- 
eral miles away, did not wish to give battle at Gettysburg. It is 
stated on good authority that General Lee said, some time before 
his death, that if Jackson had been there, he would have won in 
this battle a great and possibly decisive victory. But no soldier 
in a great crisis ever wished more ardently for deliverer's hand 
than I wished for one hour of Jackson, when I was ordered to 
halt. Had he been there, his quick eye would have caught at a 
glance the entire situation, and instead of halting me, he would 
have urged me forward and have pressed the advantage to the 
utmost. 

"From the situation plainly to be seen on the first afternoon, 
and from the facts that afterwards came to light as to the position 
of the different corps of General Meade's army, it seems certain 
that if the Confederates had simply moved forward, following up 
the advantages gained, and striking the separated Union com- 
mands in succession, the victory would have been Lee's instead of 
Meade's. 

"I should state here that General Meade's army at that hour 
was stretched out along the line of his march for nearly thirty 
miles. General Lee's was much more concentrated. General 
Hancock's statement of the situation is true and pertinent : 'The 
rear of our troops were hurrying through the town, pursued by 
Confederates. There had been an attempt to reform some of 
the Eleventh Corps as they passed over Cemetery Hill, but it had 
not been very successful.' And yet I was halted! 

"My thoughts were so harrowed and my heart so burdened by 
the fatal mistake of the afternoon that I was unable to sleep at 
night. Mounting my horse at two o'clock in the morning, I 
rode with one or two stafif officers to the red barn in which Gen- 
eral Ewell and General Early then had their headquarters. 
Much of my time after nightfall had been spent on the front 
picket line, listening to the busy strokes of Union picks and 



400 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

shovels on the hills, to the rumble of artillery wheels and the 
tramp of fresh troops as they were hurried forward by Union 
commanders and placed in position. There was, therefore, no 
difficulty in divining the scene that would break on our view with 
the coming dawn. I did not hesitate to say to both Ewell and 
Early that a line of heavy earthworks, with heavy guns and ranks 
of infantry behind them, would frown upon us at daylight. I ex- 
pressed the opinion that, even at that hour, two o'clock, by a 
concentrated and vigorous night assault, we could carry those 
heights, and that if we waited till morning it would cost us 10,000 
men to take them. There was a disposition to 3aeld to my sug- 
gestions, but other counsels finally prevailed. Those works were 
never carried, but the cost of the assault upon them, the appalling 
carnage resulting from the ef¥ort to take them, far exceeded that 
which I had ventured to predict." ("Gordon's Reminiscences of 
the Civil War.") 

General Gordon does not state who refused him permission to 
make this night attack, but Gov. William Smith, of Virginia, who 
commanded a brigade at the battle, told me that it was General 
Early who twice rejected his earnest appeal. 

I have heard many Northern soldiers say that the South never 
had the remotest chance of succeeding, and that even if Meade's 
army had been defeated and scattered, the North would have risen 
to a man and have swept Lee's army of¥ the face of the earth. 

Had Lee advanced on the evening of the ist, not even the 
combined efforts of every man in the North could have checked 
for a day the march of a veteran army of sixty thousand men. 
All the millions of warlike Persia could not retard the 30,000 
Greeks, led by Alexander; nor could the savage horde of all 
Britain stop one legion of Caesar's. With the whole of Ireland 
raging against him, Cromw^ell marched at will through the island, 
burning, pillaging and killing. All the mihtia of Indiana and 
Ohio could not withstand John Morgan and his three regiments 
of cavalrymen. The occupation of Northern cities by the Confed- 
erates would have given both England and France the pretext they 
longed for, of acknowledging the South as belligerents. This 
would have opened her blockaded ports and given her army all the 
supplies they needed. 

The night of the ist of July was an anxious one to the com- 
manding general of the Federal army. It seemed as if the wheel 
of Fortune had turned against him. His corps d'armee, no 



GETTYSBURG 4OI 

matter how they forced their march, would be too late to meet 
the attack which Lee ordered to be made at dawn of day. 

The rank and file of the Confederate army felt now no doubt 
of the result. The news of the rout' of the two Federal corps, 
magnified as it passed from lip to lip, had reached that point 
where it was believed that half of the Federal army was de- 
stroyed; and as the Southern soldiers sank to sleep that night 
they were morally certain that they would utterly defeat the foe 
on the morrow. Visions of marching through Baltimore and a 
triumphal parade up the avenue in Washington flitted through 
their minds. 

The inner history of the Battle of Gettysburg can only be 
learned by patching up the scattered fragments of a manuscript 
torn in small pieces. 

Meade was so wrought up as the time passed, that he called a 
council of war at noon. Neither he nor his corps commanders 
could fathom Lee's inaction ; they dreaded the blow, but where 
was it to fall? This portentous silence meant something. Judg- 
ing the future by the past, Lee was the last man on earth to 
dally when the opportunity offered. Witness his stroke against 
McClellan in the Seven Days' Battles around Richmond, when he 
assaulted at the dawn of day the works at Mechanicsville ; and 
who at sunrise got Longstreet's corps through Thoroughfare 
Gap to aid Jackson. This inertia on the part of the Confederate 
commander was inexplicable to the Federal generals. But they 
decided to stay where they were and to attack Lee the next day. 

There was not a private soldier in Lee's army who did not ex- 
pect to be aroused at the earliest dawn and commence the fight. 
Instead, an absolute silence reigned ; the men slept until they 
were awakened by the rising sun in their eyes, and hurried through 
their breakfast of fat pork and hardtack. The sun rose high in 
the heavens and still not a movement was made. It was incom- 
prehensible, and every group of soldiers was discussing the mat- 
ter and trying to find a solution of the delay. 

Lee had distinctly and explicitly ordered Longstreet to at- 
tack as soon as it was light enough for forming his troops ; and 
everything was ready. 

Lee's plan was simple — it was to storm the heights and find a 
weak spot somewhere. The plan of battle as given out to the 
corps commanders for the battle of the second day was that 
Ewell and Hill were to assault, the artillery keeping pace with 
the infantry, and that Longstreet, with his corps several lines 
26 



402 JOHNNY REB AND BII,I.Y YANK 

deep, should carry by storm the left center of the enemy. Stuart 
was on our right with ten thousand horse, to strike if the attack 
was successful and convert the retreat into a rout. 

Hill and Ewell were ready at sunrise, but Longstreet was riding 
about, so his orderly states, all the morning, placing his troops in 
position and changing frequently their dispositions. 

General Gordon truly says : "Co-operation by every part of 
the army was expected and was essential." 

As the sun rose higher in the heavens and lifted the mists, Lee 
chafed and fretted ; he saw the golden hours slip by unmarked 
by a single movement. What raging thoughts must have filled 
his breast at Longstreet's delay ! 

When the fate of the country was hanging by a hair, he shrank 
from suspending Longstreet, just as he refrained from court- 
martialing Huger for disobedience of orders at Seven Pines and 
the Seven Days' fight, and later on from dismissing Whiting for 
getting helplessly drunk and ruining Beauregard's plan to defeat 
and capture Butler ; and also from relieving Early from com- 
mand in the Valley long after his army had lost confidence in him. 
It was Jackson who put A. P. Hill, second in command, under 
arrest just after the battle of Antietam, for disobedience of his 
orders in failing to make a forced march. 

Think of the Commander-in-Chief waiting from 5 o'clock A. M. 
till 4 o'clock in the afternoon on the pleasure of his subordinate. 

Longstreet was a magnificent fighter and a thorough soldier, 
but his heart was not in his work. He states that at the begin- 
ning of the campaign Lee promised him to fight an offensive- 
defensive battle and force the enemy to attack him in his own 
chosen position ; now the situation was exactly the reverse, and 
he naturally felt sore at being ordered to assault the enemy in 
his stronghold. He put off. backed, filled, and dallied, doubtless 
thinking that Lee would, on second thought, countermand his 
orders to advance, and make a flank movement and force Meade 
out of the heights. 

As after-events proved, he was perfectly right : but that does 
not exonerate him from the grave fault of disobedience of orders. 
Longstreet knew that implicit obedience is the first duty of every 
soldier, high and low. 

If Lee was paralyzed by reluctant subordinates, Meade was in 
the same fix: and Sickles, commanding the Third Corps, a civil- 
ian general, by the way, came within an ace of destroying the 
army by taking position a mile in advance of the main line with- 



GETTYSBURG 403 

out orders and of his own volition. Meade only discovered the 
false — almost fatal — disposition of the Third Corps when too late 
to rectify it. Every precept of military science, nay, every prin- 
ciple of common sense should have taught Sickles that the proper 
place to station his corps was at the foot of Little Round Top, 
and with that crest crowned with artillery, Marye's Heights and 
Malvern Hill would have been in comparison an ant mound to 
a mountain. 

When the assault was to be made by Longstreet, Lee's orders 
were for them to advance in the center, and for Ewell to charge 
as soon as he heard Hill's guns. It was impossible to secure 
uniformity. To send a message to the left wing of the Confed- 
erate army a staff officer or courier would have to make a long- 
detour on the outside circumference of the half circle and ride 
fully four miles. Hill did not get this order to advance until an 
hour after Longstreet's notice, and when Hill advanced, Ewell 
did not hear his guns and did not move at all. 

General Gordon in a magazine article says : 

"Pressure — hard, general, and constant pressure — upon 
Meade's right would have called him to its defense and weakened 
his center. That pressure was only spasmodic and of short dura- 
tion — Lee and his plan could only promise success on the pro- 
viso that the movement was both general and prompt. It was 
neither. Moments in battle are pregnant with the fate of armies. 
AA'hen the opportune moment to strike arrives, the blow must 
fall, for the next instant it may be futile. Not only moments but 
hours of delay occurred." 

Doubleday, in his book on Chancellorsville, writes a page re- 
markable for its truth, force and power. He says (p. 52) : "In 
the histories of lost empires, we almost invariably find that the 
cause of their final overthrow on the battle-field may be traced to 
the violation of one military principle which is that the attempt to 
overpower a central force by converging columns is almost always 
fatal to the assailants: for the force in the center is nearly double 
the strength of the one on the circumference, yet this is the first 
mistake made by every tyro in generalship. A strong blow can 
be given by a sledge hammer, but if we divide it into twenty 
sm.all hammers, the blows will necessarily be scattering and un- 
certain. Let us suppose an army holds the junction of two 
roads ; if all close in at once, the attacking force would probably 
confuse and overpower it. It seems easy, but practically it is 
nearly impossible : for no two routes are precisely alike. The 



404 JOHNNY REB AND BII.I.Y YANK 

columns never move simultaneously, and therefore never arrive 
at the same time. Some of this is due to the character of the 
commanders. One man is full of dash and goes forward at once ; 
another is tired, or over-cautious ; a third stops to recall some 
cut-lying detachment. The result is, that the outer army has 
lost its strength and is always beaten in detail." 

This was written before Gettysburg was fought, and yet how 
perfectly it fitted the bill. 

Napoleon's favorite tactics were in defiance of this military 
rule, and his victory at Marengo and Ulm was in the advance of 
converging column; but he made his marshals set their watches 
by his, and at the exact time they were to be at a certain place. 
Yet he lost his empire from this very cause ; and Grouchy's fail- 
ure to converge at Waterloo caused his ruin. \ 

Longstreet started to the attack on a hot summer afternoon, 
and his splendid corps struck at Sickles's Third Corps. Had 
Sickles placed his back to Little Round Top, he could have with- 
stood the onslaught of Lee's whole army ; for with the fire of his 
guns and musketry, he could have so swept the plain that not a 
fleeing rabbit could have made the crest safely. Sickles has 
always stubbornly avowed that the position he took was a correct 
one. Any person who has ever stood on the tower on the crest 
of Big Round Top, with the scene before him as a map, could see 
at a glance what a colossal blunder he made. 

Had Longstreet moved, even two hours earlier, Sickles would 
not have had the support of General Sedgwick's corps, that at 
the beginning of the battle was at Westminster and did not reach 
Gettysburg until between 2 and 3 o'clock in the afternoon. There 
was a Titanic struggle for four hours when Longstreet struck 
Sickles. The shock was so terrific that the Federal army reeled, 
staggered, and all but fell. 

In a battle, time is priceless ! Had Longstreet moved even thirty 
minutes earlier, he would have taken that rock-crowned post of 
vantage, Little Round Top, without a struggle. As long as Amer- 
ica shall last and tourists visit that historic battle-field, they will 
wonder at the turn of Fate that made five minutes the turning point 
of that battle; for had the Confederates seized it, they could have 
crowned the great hill with batteries and taken Meade on the 
flank; would have forced him to evacuate his position. Five 
minutes settled it; for Hood's men were scaling the slope, and 
the Union signal service men were furling their flags when a 
Maine regiment which was passing by was ordered to rush to the 



GETTYSBURG 405 

crest. The sides of Little Round Top are composed of boulders 
of rock from the size of a paving stone to that of a house. The 
advance of Hood's men was stayed for a fraction of time, and 
five brigades from Hancock's and Humphreys's divisions all sent 
in a double-quick to the summit. Hazlett's battery reached the 
top, and among the gorges, crags, and rocks a furious contest 
raged. One man behind those granite boulders was a match for 
five. The colonel of the Third Arkansas regiment, speaking of 
the herculean wrestle, said : "The hills were so steep, the rocks so 
sharp, that without scaling-ladders it was impossible to advance." 

Every Federal general officer fell : Cross, Zook, Brooks, and 
Hazlett: but the Federal rank and file clung to the rocks of 
refuge with splendid courage. It was a fight at pistol-shot dis- 
tance, and the soldiers of both sides went down by the hun- 
dreds. But the men of Hood's division, who had never suffered 
a defeat, met their match in that grim line of blue that stayed 
their impetuous rush and held them back. 

As Longstreet pressed the left center. Meade threw every man, 
reserves and all, into the breach, and he committed, apparently, 
a monumental error in taking the last soldier from his extreme 
right (two brigades of the White Star Division), thus leaving 
Gulp's Hill undefended. Stewart's (Confederate) brigade, of 
Johnson's division, walked quickly in and took possession. This 
was about 7 o'clock in the evening, and the Baltimore pike was 
a short distance away. Here was packed all of Meade's ammu- 
nition wagons and ordnance stores. If General Edward John- 
son had but followed up his advance, he would have struck Meade 
in the rear when his left was denuded of troops. Such a blow as 
a fresh division striking at that critical moment, the Union rear, 
would have utterly routed their army. Johnson made no ad- 
vance whatever that evening, but assaulted the next morning 
after Meade had learned of his error and heavily reinforced 
his right. Johnson was repulsed with great loss. 

I asked a staff officer of General Johnson's why he did not ad- 
vance when there was not even a skirmish line to oppose him? 
His reply was that Johnson said he was afraid the Yankees were 
leading him into a trap. This was certainly a case of a wrong 
man in the wrong place. 

The crisis came in the second day's fight when Humphreys 
flanked Barksdale, and was in turn flanked by Wright's Geor- 
gians and Perry's Floridians. Under this flank assault Hum- 
phreys's line broke and crumbled: and just as the sun dropped 



406 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

below the horizon the scene was such as beggars description. 
Little Round Top was full of flashing fire from the artillery 
posted there ; Death's Valley, at the base, showed dimly through 
the sulphurous smoke. Every gun on Cemetery Heights was 
bellowing; the clouds of dust and haze half obscured the scene; 
broken caissons, slain horses, overturned cannon, muskets by the 
thousands, knapsacks, canteens, boxes of ammunition covered 
the ground ; the dead lay everywhere, the wounded cumbered 
the earth by the thousands, uncared for, forgotten in the mad- 
dening fight. Masses of soldiery half-hidden, moving standards 
half-seen, screams of defiance, the Yankee hurrah, the Rebel yell 
breaking out at intervals, ofificers on horseback galloping wildly, 
shrieking their commands which none heeded. It was as if pan- 
demonium had broken loose in the wreck of matter and the crash 
of worlds. 

More than half of Hancock's men were prone in the dust. 
vSykes's Regulars were torn to pieces and the Army of the Po- 
tomac almost a mob. Order and form was lost, and regiments, 
brigades, and divisions were mixed and mingled together in a 
mad, swaying mass. Sickles fell with a shattered thigh, and his 
men, those who were left, broke and rushed to the rear. If a 
general advance by Hill and Ewell had then been made, the most 
complete victory since Waterloo would have been the result. 
But it was not to be. The Confederate reserves stood stock-still 
in their tracks. The Rebel brigades of Hays and Hoke scaled 
the heights, and sixty pieces of artillery fell into their hands. As 
these veterans stood beside the smoking guns, they felt that they 
had the citadel within their grasp, and the wild Rebel yell echoed 
from the topmost crest of Cemetery Heights; but no reserves 
came to support them, and with despair and rage in their hearts, 
they retired down the hill. 

Hays, in his official report, says : 

"A little before 8 P. M. on July 2nd, I was ordered to advance. 
With my own and Hoke's brigade on my left, I immediately 
moved forward, and had gone but a short distance when my whole 
Ime became exposed to a most terrific fire from the enemy's bat- 
teries, from the entire range of hills in front, and to the right and 
to the left ; still both brigades advanced steadily, up and over 
the first hill, when the canister opened upon us in point-blank dis- 
tance, but owing to the darkness of the evening now verging 
into night, and the deep obscurity afforded by the smoke of the 
firing, our exact localitv could not be discovered bv the enemv's 



GETTYSBURG 407 

gunners and we thus escaped ivhat in the full light of day could 
have been nothing less tJian a Iwrrihle slaughter. 

''Taking advantage of this we continued forward until we 
reached the second line behind a stone wall; still advancing, we 
came to an abattis of fallen timber, and then a third line with rifle- 
pits where their reserves were ; these we broke. Then with a 
rush we reached the summit and captured the artillery, and every 
piece of artillery had been silenced. After a silence of several 
minutes their lines of battle attacked us, and as I had no reserves, 
I retired." (Reb. Records, Vol. 2y, pp. 480-481.) 

Hay's Louisiana Brigade, which was claimed by the enemy to 
have been almost annihilated, lost but few^ ; only 29 were killed, 159 
wounded and 80 taken prisoners ; in all 268 men. 

In a letter to the Governor of North Carolina, Major Tate, 
under date of July 8th, 1863, gives a thrilling account of this 
charge of Hays. He says : 

'Xongstreet had charged on the south face and was repulsed, 
A. P. Hill charged on the west face and was repulsed. Our two 
brigades, late in the evening, were ordered to charge the nortli 
front, and after a struggle such as this war has furnished no 
parallel, 75 North Carolinians of the Sixth Regiment, and 12 
Louisianians. and Hays's brigade scaled the heights and planted 
the colors of the Sixth North Carolina and Ninth Louisiana on 
the guns. 

''The enemy stood with a tenacity never before displayed by 
them, with bayonets clubbed, musket, sword, and pistol and 
rocks, firm as a wall, yet we cleared the heights and silenced the 
guns. In vain did I send to the rear for support ; the enemy 
hurried his troops on both flanks, got in my rear, and I had to re- 
treat. On reaching our lines I demanded to know^ why I was 
not supported, and was coolly informed that it w-as not known we 
were on the works. 

"To think of the monstrous injustice done us ! I assure you 
that the fighting was no sensation or fancy picture ; such a fight 
as the Yankees made inside of their works has never been 
equalled. Inside, the enemy were left lying in great heaps, most 
all with bayonet w^ounds, and many with their skulls broken by 
the stocks of our guns. We left not a living man on the hill." 

Nearly a year later, when a prisoner of war, I discussed Gettys- 
burg with Federal officers and soldiers ; and later on, after escap- 
ing from prison in Ohio and making my way through the enemy's 
countr}-^ in disguise, I talked with the Union soldiers who were 



408 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

in that battle, and every one, without a single exception, said : 
"The Rebs had us whipped once at Gettysburg, but they did not 
know it," and on asking which battle it was, the answer was in- 
variably, "about sunset on the second day." 

The third day at Gettysburg dawned clear and cloudless ; it 
should, by all precedents, have been one of driving rain ; for 
there was enough concussion of the atmosphere to have started 
every cloud that encircled the globe, into action. 

Lee had one more chance ; if he could attack at sun up, before 
the shattered regiments, brigades and divisions could reorganize, 
victory was certain. 

To an ordinary foe. such a stunning blow as that which struck 
the Federal forces the night before would have taken all the fight 
out of the soldiers; but the Army of the Potomac was as thrice- 
tempered steel. 

Man to man, I do not think the rank and file were equal to the 
privates of Lee's army for several reasons : one was, that nearly 
every Southern soldier was a native-born American, and until 
their Government was a fixed fact, they put all thoughts of pro- 
motion aside : and in the ranks were men often higher in the 
walks of life than their ofiicers. It was a source of pride to the 
wealthy, well-educated youth to serve as a private soldier. It 
proved his patriotism, and the women showed their love and 
affection very plainly for the men who carried the gims. 

In the Union Army it was different; to remain a private in the 
ranks was tantamount to confessing a willingness to be a day 
laborer instead of a boss. No rich, well-born, educated North- 
erner was content to carry a musket after the patriotic delirium 
which animated them for the first year had died out. 

There were plenty of foreigners, mill hands, apprentices and 
human drift-wood to serve in the ranks, but he who had pres- 
tige, brains, or political influence was soon sporting chevrons, 
straps, or stars. The officers of the Army of the Potomac, edu- 
cated, proud men, were every whit as brave as those of the Con- 
federate Army; and give the American gentleman a few hours of 
daylight, and no matter what the history of yesterday, they will 
be found ready to meet, with steady front, any crisis to-day or 
to-morrow. The old Anglo-Saxon race never showed its un- 
dying tenacity and bravery more vividly than it did on that day of 
July 3rd, 1863, when at noon of the next day the disorganized 
mass that Humphreys acknowledged was beaten at sunset, proudly 
and fearlesslv confronted the victor. 




•'^^t^wm 



AN ACTUAL OCCUKRENXE AT GETTYSBURG OF TWO BROTHERS MEETING. 
FacitiK pagre 40!S 



GETTYSBURG 409 

Lee yet had a good opportunity to win if he had assaulted 
Meade at dayHght on the morning of the 3rd, and he so ordered. 

Longstreet says : '"I met General Lee very early on the morn- 
ing of the 3rd. and anticipating any remark that the Commander- 
in-Chief might make, I said : 'General Lee, my scouts have re- 
turned with sufficient information to lead me to believe that 
there are excellent chances of inducing General Meade to attack 
us.' To which General Lee replied by pointing to Cemetery Hill 
and saying : 'The enemy is there, and I am going to strike him.' 
I said in return, 'General, I have seen men fight by companies, 
regiments, brigades, and divisions, but never anything like you 
propose.' " (Baltimore Sun, October 25, 1889.) 

Longstreet again shirked duty, and let the whole forenoon 
pass ; and it was not until i P. M, that the Confederate artillery 
of over 100 gims opened on Cemetery Hill to sweep the plateau 
so as to allow the infantry to assault, and Pickett's Virginians 
were to lead, supported by McLaws, and D. H. Hill's division of 
his own, and two divisions of A. P. Hill's corps ; in all number- 
ing some twenty-seven thousand men. Longstreet again dis- 
obeyed his chief's orders, and only 14,000 were formed for the 
charge. 

It would have made little difference; the position, so strong 
by nature, had been rendered nearly impregnable by art, and de- 
fended as it was by one hundred and thirty-five cannon and forty 
thousand muskets, it seemed like madness to storm the works. 

Lee thought that if two brigades could reach the summit, as 
Hays and Hoke did the evening before, a storming column 
of thirty thousand men could go to the same spot, especially if 
the heights were swept clear by heavy artillery fire. But he did 
not take into consideration that it was dark when the assault was 
made. 

At I o'clock in the afternoon the Confederate batteries opened 
their fire; being on the rim of the circle, they had a great ad- 
vantage in delivering a concentric fire; but Colonel Alexander, in 
command of the artillery, made a grave mistake in not concen- 
trating his fire, first on one spot, and then on another. One dis- 
charge from his 100 guns on one battery would have annihilated 
it. Had he given orders to commence on the left center and 
then range along to the right, he would have not only silenced 
but crushed the enemy's batteries. 

At 2 P. M. the artillery ceased and the vital moment had come. 

Longstreet says in his report : 



410 JOHNNY REB AND BILI.Y YANK 

"I gave the order to General Pickett to advance to the assault; 
I then found that our supply of ammunition was so short that the 
batteries could not reopen. The order for this attack, which I 
could not favor under better auspices, would have been reversed.'' 

I have often talked with General Pickett, after the war, about 
this charge. He told me he felt supremely confident that his divis- 
ion could make an opening in the line, and felt proud to show the 
army what the Virginians could do; and that, of course, he felt 
assured that right behind his assaulting column were heavy re- 
serves that would hold all he could take. 

There is one point in this famous charge that historians make 
no mention of, yet it was a vitally important one ; and that was, 
that it was always the custom when the infantry made a charge 
for the batteries to accompany them. Had this been done, 
Pickett could have held the heights until succor reached him. In- 
stead of his eight batteries keeping step with him and pouring a 
furious fire in the teeth of Hancock, only a single one (Captain 
Miller's) followed him. 

The madness of Pickett's charge! It was superb — like the 
charge of Balaklava; but it was not war. Let us see what 
Pickett and his reserves were going against, and put yourself in 
the place of one of his soldiers. 

He started from the woods, and to reach his objective point 
on the heights he had to walk one and a half miles. Each man 
had his gim, baj'onet, haversack, blanket, and heavy cartridge- 
box. The line had to move slowly so as to save their strength 
for the supreme effort. Eighty cannon commenced their prac- 
tice on the advancing lines. There w^ere two Yankee lines of 
battle on the Emmitsburg road behind a stone wall ; enough 
alone to break the Rebel advance. These were driven back after 
a bloody contest. The line had to cross an open plain, and then 
those guns changed their solid shot for shell. 

Imagine the scene of that line of devoted men, breasting, with 
heads thrust forward, the iron hail-storm. Had the whole val- 
ley been wreathed in smoke the long lines of gray could have 
swept up unperceived to the foot of the heights without losing 
many men, and might have stood some chance of splitting the 
Federal line, but the officer commanding the Union artillery. 
General Hunt, with the intuition of a born soldier, had ordered 
his artillery to cease firing, and the dense battle smoke that had 
accumulated during the hours of bombardment slowly drifted 



GETTYSBURG 41 I 

skyward, and in the bright glare of the July sun every Rebel sol- 
dier's figure was painfully distinct. 

When a line of battle is on a charge the order is given before 
they start to "guide to the colors;" that is, if a man drops, the 
one next him closes up toward the flag, which is always in the 
center, and thus the line, which gaps continually when men are 
killed and wounded, is kept intact. Of course the more men that 
drop out the shorter the line becomes. 

Pickett had two lines in his division, but as the fire became 
severe his lines continued to shorten, and before he reached the 
crest became so short that his right w-as in the air, and over-reached 
by the attacking line. This allowed a flank fire, which is the most 
deadly of all. 

A man can kill with a shot-gun several swallows sitting on a 
telegraph wire, but suppose he climbs to the top of the pole and 
shoots down the wire with a raking shot, he can bag dozens. 

It is impossible for any troops to keep a perfect alignment 
under such a fusilade ; they must either break and run to the rear 
or rush desperately forward. 

Armistead struck the center of the Union works, which was 
occupied by Webb's brigade. This command having lost the 
pick of its men on the first day, had the nerve knocked out of 
them by the furious cannonading, and when Pickett's line came 
surging up the hill they broke despite the frenzied efforts of their 
officers, and abandoned their works, which was a hastily con- 
structed barricade of fence rails, thrown up a few yards in ad- 
vance of the regular stone wall that ran along the crest of Ceme- 
tery Ridge. 

Into this gap dashed Armistead, Avith his hat on the point of his 
sw^ord, cheering on his men. 

Lieutenant Mason, one of the few of Armistead's men who got 
out safely, told me that night that not over sixty, or at the most 
one hundred soldiers, got over the stone wall that was abandoned 
by Webb's brigade; but there w-as one command that stood there 
and died there after the infantry had fled, and that was Gushing 
with his battery. A more splendid exhibition of valor has never 
been witnessed ; for he fought his guns after the infantry sup- 
ports had left him, and disdaining to fly he fell at the feet of his 
Napoleons. 

The rest of Pickett's men stopped at the stone vvall, and lying- 
down, poured an irregular fire on the confused squads, hurrying 
lines, and groups of blue-coats on the level plateau. 



412 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

The fire of the Yankee artillery on the right and left was con- 
centrated and swept the hill-side in the center, and every Rebel 
was compelled to throw himself flat on his face to escape annihila- 
tion. For a few minutes, at least. Armistead's men were oiit of 
the rim of this fire, and looked back for the gray line of reserves 
to push through the breach that Armistead had made ; but the re- 
serves had drifted back. 

There has been a great deal of controvers}^ in the South as 
to why these troops retreated. The truth of the whole matter 
is this : the advance was a bungle ; the of^cers of the various 
commands received no explicit instructions. They were to ad- 
vance, that was all ; and no orders were given where to rally in 
case of defeat. Had the point just above the Emmitsburg pike 
been chosen, where there was a dip in the ground affording se- 
curity from the fire — or even the Emmitsburg road, the retreat 
of Pickett's division would have been a simple retirement instead 
of a total rout. 

Many brigades of the supporting line became bewildered and 
marched at random over the smoking plain. Many halted and 
threw themselves on their faces and simply waited. They were 
ready and willing, if handled intelligently, but were confused and 
disheartened. 

Then Armistead's men stood victors for a brief moment on the 
crest of the hill, the rest of the division were loading and firing. 
Most of the soldiers were lying down waiting for the re- 
serves, and they were ready to join with their comrades in the 
rush, but when alone and unsupported, the Federal troops clos- 
ing in on both flanks, the Rebel line went to pieces, and it was sanve 
qui pent. Many surrendered, and many, running awful risks, 
raced back across the metal-swept plain. 

Meade put in every available man ; it was neck or nothing 
with him. 

When Pickett started, the cry went along the lines of blue, 
"Here they come! Here they come!" and Meade established a 
cordon of slightly wounded men, who were ordered to lie on the 
ground a few paces in the rear of the last reserve and shoot any 
who attempted to run to the rear. 

Longstreet says of this fight : 

"The brigades of Trimble and Pettigrew, under the concen- 
trated fire of artillery and musketry, after Pickett reached the 
ravine, wavered and broke, and Anderson's division was ordered 



GETTYSBURG 413 

to their support; he was halted, and the enemy threw their en- 
tire force upon Pickett and crushed his division into fragments." 

Pettigrew cannot be blamed. Heth's division had borne the 
brunt of the battle of the ist of July, and his loss was enormous — 
far surpassing that of any division in the army. Pickett's loss 
out of 5,500 men, in killed, wounded, and captured, was : Gar- 
nett's brigade, 941; Armistead's, 1,191; Kemper's, 731 — in all, 
2,710; but of these 1,599 were captured, leaving 1,101 killed and 
wounded. 

The three brigades of Heth's division did not lose a man by 
capture, but in killed and wounded the First Brigade (Petti- 
grew's) lost 1,105 out of 1,700 men in line; about 70 per cent. 

Out of 600 men in line, the Second Brigade (Lane's) lost 389 
and the Fourth (Scales's) lost 535; in all 2,029.* 

The losses of some of the North Carolina regiments were ap- 
palling. 

Look at the famous Twenty-sixth North Carolina Regiment (of 
Pettigrew's brigade) raised by Gov. Vance, which went into bat- 
tle with 900 men. Fox in his book states that they came out of 
the charge leaving 800 men on the field killed and wounded ; no 
prisoners were captured. This heroic record does not cease 
here : Company F can duplicate the famous dispatch of Sam 
Houston : "Thermopylae has its messengers of defeat, but the 
Alamo has none;" for Company F, Twenty-sixth North Carolina, 
went into the fight with three officers and eighty men, and every 
man was killed or wounded. So the report of General Long- 
street that Pender's men wavered was most unjust; they fell and 
died ; none surrendered ; and if the history of the world can show 
more magnificent fighting, it has never been told in song or in 
story. 

Cold statistics prove that while Pickett's charge was magnifi- 
cent, the steady discipline and pluck of Pettigrew's men has never 
been matched but once, and that was when Ney's grenadiers of 
"The Old Guard" died in their tracks at Waterloo. 

The histories of Gettysburg written before the publication of 
the Rebellion Records do Pettigrew's brigade great injustice. 
I know that around our camp-fires we laid the blame of Pickett's 
defeat to the failure of Pettigrew's North Carolinians to support 
him ; and the Federal writers fall into the same gross error. 



♦Medical Surgeon L. Guild's report of the casualties of the Army of Northern 
Virginia, Reb. Rec, Vol. 27, p. 338. 



414 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

Bates in his book, "Battle of Gettysburg," says (p. 160) : 

'"For Pettigrew with his green and already decimated levies 
quailed before the terrific fire of Hay's men." 

Comte de Paris in his book says (p. 216) : 

"Pettigrew on Pickett's left does his best to support him. 
His own brigade and that of Archer have reached Hay's line but 
have failed to effect a breach. Trimble, who is following them 
closely, sustains them vigorously. Lane's North Carolinians 
have already penetrated the first line of Federals drawn up as it 
is at the foot of the declivity, and beginning to scale it he draws 
near the wall. Archer's and Scales's North Carolinians have 
passed the same walls a few minutes before ; but Pettigrew's two 
brigades on the left have remained in the rear and cannot, or will 
not, arrive in time to support him. After a contest at short range, 
very brief but exceedingly murderous, in which Trimble is se- 
riously wounded, his troops and Pettigrew's retire even before 
the two brigades of Thomas and Perrin have reached their 
position, and while Pickett is still fighting on the right." 

If Pickett's division had met the fire that Pettigrew's men had 
to contend against, not a man would have been left alive to reach 
the crest of the hill. The point where Pickett struck the Federal 
line was their weak spot. The point of Pettigrew's and Trim- 
ble's advance was directly in front of Cemetery Hill. Scales was 
on the right and in the rear of Archer, with Lane on the left and 
Wilcox in the rear ; as they advanced Wilcox lost his way in the 
smoke of battle and Pettigrew and Trimble were the targets of 
fifty guns of Osborne's posted on Cemetery Ridge. When 
Pickett closed up the bridge, too close for the Federal guns to 
fire, the forty pieces of Hazard's turned on the reserves; thus 
ninety cannon were firing on an average three times a minute. 
These guns, loaded with grape and canister, swept the plain at 
point-blank distance with a continuing sheet of iron hail ; added 
to this, the terrific infantry fire did not leave a space as large as a 
man's hand untouched by a leaden bullet. The supporting lines 
were leveled to the ground. Pettigrew was destroyed for the 
time, and the Federal reserves, consisting of the brigades of 
Hall's and Harman's. the Nineteenth Massachusetts, One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-first Pennsylvania, Twentieth New York, and 
Forty-second Regiment of the line, amounting to twelve regiments, 
stood four deep, ready to defend the ground if Pickett succeeded 
in holdins: the crest. 



GETTYSBURG 415 

One man lying down behind a stone wall is a match for three 
men advancing across the open to attack him. Bates says in his 
book (p. 161) : 

"As an example of the futility, and at the same time the accu- 
racy of the Rebel fire, it may be stated as an observation of the 
writer made soon after the battle, that the splashes of the leaden 
bullets upon the shelving rock and the low stone wall along its 
very edge and behind which were Hancock's men, for a distance 
of half a mile, w^ere so thick, that one could scarcely lay his hand 
upon any part of either the wall or the rock without touching 
them. All this ammunition was of course thrown away, not one 
bullet in a thousand reaching its intended victim." 

The fragments of fourteen regiments of Pickett's division, 
panting, breathless, smoke-begrimed, reached their own lines. 
Every Rebel soldier who witnessed the scene knew that the great 
charge had failed ; but there were no symptoms of panic ; not a 
private in the ranks left his place, and they waited, expecting 
e\ery moment to see the long lines of blue come surging toward 
them, and they all hoped they would. 

There were many unthinking people in the North who blamed 
Meade for not attacking Lee after Pickett's repulse. Deluded 
mortals ! the condition of the Federal army on that evening was 
desperate. Attack ! Why ! another day's battle would have dis- 
rupted it. 

On the night of July 3rd, when Lee was making preparations 
to retreat, sending his staff officers in every direction to hurry up 
the movement, he was asked by General Pickett if he thought the 
L^nion army would make an active pursuit. General Lee's 
answer was striking, and showed how well he understood the situ- 
ation. He said: "That army [meaning Meade's] will be as a 
brooding dove for the next twelve months.'' 

We often read of battles in Europe where the villages and 
towns of the enemy are held, of the outrages upon the citizens, 
of every house having its billet to lodge and feed so many soldiers ; 
of the private dwellings being seized and used for hospital pur- 
poses ; and of worse things still : of insult, rapine and arson. 

The conquered town of Gettysburg was held by the Rebel sol- 
diery for three days, at a time when their blood was at fever 
heat, and later on when the soldiers were savage with disappoint- 
ment at their defeat ; yet there was not a single act of violence 
nor so much as a spoken word of insult in all that time. One of 
Archer's command, a captain in the Thirteenth Alabama, who re- 



41 6 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

mained in the town, wounded, told me that during the first day 
all the towns-people remained hidden away in their cellars; that 
on the second and third days, getting over their fright, many came 
out on the streets; he never saw one of the Rebs even address a 
woman without lifting his hat. 

As Lee has said : 

■'Had Stonewall Jackson been at Gettysburg, I would have es- 
tablished the Southern Confederacy." 

As Sweden without Charles XII ; as the army of Parliament 
without Cromwell; as the troops of the Louvre without Napoleon; 
as the Revolutionary Patriots without Washington — so was the 
South without her Jackson, and impartial history will decide that 
he was the greatest master of the art of war that America ever 
produced. 

It has often been said and written that the firm faith and fer- 
vent hopes of the patriotic people within the Union were nearer 
despondency and despair in those fateful July days than at any 
other time. 

But these ideas are all false, as every American soldier who 
fought in the sixties knows, for the darkest hours of the Ameri- 
can Union was in June, July and August, 1864, after the battles of 
the Wilderness, Todd's Tavern, Spottsylvania, South Anna, 
Yellow Farm, Cold Harbor and numberless skirmishes had been 
fought, and when the lowlands of Virginia were literally drenched 
with blood, and when Grant's appalling loss of five thousand offi- 
cers and over sixty thousand men of all arms bathed the North 
in tears and made the stoutest heart despair. 

Gettysburg has been called the high-tide of the Rebellion, and 
the spot where the gallant Gushing fell, the high-water mark. 

'Tis not so. The tide reached its flood just after Cold Harbor, 
and it was one year after Gettysburg was fought that the star of 
the Confederacy shone with its brightest lustre ; but as the sum- 
mer waned, the splendor of that star which the world watched 
with breathless interest grew dimmer each hour until it was 
quenched forever at Appomattox, 

A fitting wind-up of the Gettysburg Campaign is Lee's order to 
his troops on entering the enemy's territory: 

"Order No. 73. Chambersburg, Pa., June 27th, 1863. 

"It must he remembered that zve make war only against armed 
men. The Commanding General, therefore, earnestly exhorts 
the troops to abstain, with the most scrupulous care, from un- 



GETTYSBURG 41/ 

necessary or wanton injury to private property, and he enjoins 
upon all officers to arrest and bring to summary punishment any 
soldier disregarding this order." 

From the dim traditions of the Assyrian Empire, from the 
pages of Herodotus, or the struggle of Rameses, we may search 
the records of hostile campaigns and crusades — we may study the 
histories of the Golden Age of Greece, or the annals of Imperial 
Rome, or the various dynasties of Europe, but we can find no 
record of a nobler utterance from the lips of a warrior than that 
from the pen of General Lee, which brought comfort and peace 
unto thousands of Northern hearts. 

How many statues, monoliths and mausoleums of great con- 
querors which adorn the parks of both the Old and New World, 
on whose base, carved in letters of gold, can be found a loftier 
sentiment than this : "We make war only against armed men." 

In the flush of success the tears of women, houseless, home- 
less and shelterless are lost sight of, but the South endorsed then, 
as she will forever, that immortal decretal penned by Lee: ^'We 
make war only against armed men." 



27 



CHAPTER III. 

THE BI.ACK HORSE CAVALRY. 

This renowned troop was organized before the war by Major 
John Scott, of Fauquier County, Virginia. Its members at the 
commencement of the conflict were the very pick of the county, 
both as regards men and mounts — a body of men chosen from 
the garden spot of the State, Fauquier being the largest and most 
fertile county in the rich Piedmont section. The Black Horse 
then had blood in the horses and blood in the men. 

The organization was the result of a dinner given by William 
H. Payne to Mr. John Scott, near Warrenton, Virginia. 

As the gentlemen sat over their wine, discussing "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin" and the impending conflict, Mr. Payne, a fire-eating young 
lawyer of Fauquier, asked Mr. Scott how he would Hke to com- 
mand a squadron of cavalry. Mr. Scott, feeling assured that an 
internecine conflict was close at hand, replied that he was willing 
to accept any position. 

It was Mr. Payne who spread among the young planters of 
the county his idea, and it was enthusiastically received at a 
meeting of the young men at the next court day in Warrenton. 

The company was organized, and John Scott elected captain, 
Robert Randolph, a planter, first lieutenant; Charles H. Gor- 
don, second lieutenant; and Alex. D. Payne, third lieutenant. 

At the John Brown raid the Black Horse saw their first active 
service. 

On April 26th, 1861, the troop was mustered into service. 

Captain John Scott was summoned to Montgomery, Alabama, 
to assist in forming the new Confederate Government, and Pri- 
vate Billy Payne was accorded the unusual honor of being elected 
captain over the heads of his superiors. 

It was a wise choice ; it was under his splendid leadership that 
they imbibed from him the dash, the daring, the eclat, which 
made them the crack cavalry command of the Confederacy. 

Captain Billy Payne, afterwards General, was a born soldier, a 
typical Virginian, whose bright mind, united to his soldierly abili- 
ties and great heart, made him the idol of his troops. 

It was during the first and second years of the war that this 
company stood highest, when it numbered about seventy-five 



THE BIvACK HORSE CAVAERY 4I9 

men, fifty of whom were as gallant fellows as ever swung them- 
selves into the saddle. All young men, all dare-devils in the most 
literal sense of the term, they at once made up that material of 
which cavalry should be composed. Every men was a finished 
horseman and a dead shot; familiar with every blind path and 
hog-track in the section ; thus forming the finest company of light 
cavalry and scouts ever raised in the South. 

It is said that the Black Horse made a goodly showing on that 
morning when they filed through the little town of Warrenton, the 
county seat of Fauquier, on their way to Harper's Ferry during 
the John Brown trouble, mounted on their coal-black horses, with 
nodding plumes, burnished sabres and waving pennons, looking, 
as they were indeed, the very flower of the cavalry. The Austrian 
Hussars of the Royal Household never presented a more gallant 
or martial appearance or rode better. Such a troop Cardinal 
Richelieu, who had the warrior soul beneath the livery of Rome, 
would have loved to see by the side of the French King Louis. 

In 1863 all this had been changed by two years of campaign- 
ing. Uniforms had long given way to the gray, ragged, dis- 
colored jacket and breeches such as those worn by the infantry. 
The jaunty plumed hat had been superseded by a black felt 
slouch, or forage-cap. The stylish Wellington top-boots, which 
used to shine like an ebony mirror, had degenerated to the coarse 
cowhide and jack-boots, or worse still, the regulation army bro- 
gan. The black Virginia racers had been succeeded by animals 
of all hues as well as all sizes and breeds. 

Yet the same hearts beat under the tattered jackets as did 
under the buff facings of the once faultless uniform ; and though 
rough to look upon, they were brave and gallant soldiers, true 
as steel, and withal gentlemen to the core. They were no longer 
holiday soldiers, delighting in their own warlike shadow, loving 
to hear the clank of the long sabres against the spurs; but were 
changed to veteran cavalrymen and accomplished scouts with 
each a record of daring deeds, of hand-to-hand encounters, of 
midnight forays, of dashing raids by the light of the stars, of 
solitary watches and sudden captures. They were the same men 
who in days of peace were leading lazy college lives or ornament- 
ing the home circle in a gentle, easy-going existence, which ran 
on to its close like the smooth, broad, peaceful current of the 
river; men whose lines were cast in pleasant places; whose days 
were spent in riding after the hounds, looking over their broad 
ancestral acres, shooting over their dogs and practicing a profuse 



420 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

hospitalit}^ which they held as sacred as their creed. They took 
hfe with its sunshine as a kind of long holiday, brimful of pleasure, 
to be enjoyed with mirth, joviality and content; in the faces of 
whom could be traced that bonhomie which comes from taking 
things easily as they chance, without care or fret, fit descendants of 
those cavaliers who were 

"The kindliest of the kindly band 

Who rarely hated ease, 
Who rode with Smith around the land 
And Raleigh round the seas." 

Scions of this old race, the old refinement and the old courtesy 
lingered in word and glance ; and lazy looking as some of them 
were, they were as desperate a set as any men on earth, holding 
life so cheaply that after constant skirmishes and combats, dan- 
ger only charmed and never repelled them. 

In this company were over a dozen of the most celebrated 
scouts in the Army of Northern Virginia, whose experience had 
many times led them into the midst of hostile camps under every 
conceivable disguise ; who had lived with their lives in their 
hands, their hands on the pistols, their pistols on the cock, until, 
like the Carlist guerrilla troopers, they foimd the keenest pleasure 
in life only when they were in danger of losing it. 

In 1863 Captain Randolph had tried to swell the ranks of his 
company so as to form of it an independent battalion ; but as 
one hundred and sixty only could be enrolled the effort failed. 
Even the attempt proved an unfortunate step, as it placed in this 
hitherto proud company about fifty of the most trifling, scary, 
no-account men that ever propagated a base-born race. They 
loved so much their worthless hides that they never placed them 
where they could possibly be perforated either by shot, shell or 
sabre. They would keep in ranks and march decently enough, 
but the sound of a cannon ten miles off would send them running 
to the rear. One would drop out to get a canteen of water, and 
that would be the last seen of him for a week. Another would 
clap his hand to his stomach in mute pantomime, and seek medi- 
cal aid so far away that his comrades who did not understand 
the subterfuge might have mourned him dead. A third would stop 
to arrange a blanket on a sore-back horse, and take six weeks to 
do it. A fourth would slyly unbuckle his pack and let it fall. Of 
course he must dismount to rearrange it, and it is needless to say 
this would be the end of him, and so on until the last of these 
human rats had disappeared into some hiding-place. Hence by 



The: BLrACK horse; caval,ry 421 

the time the Fourth Regiment drew up in a squad row to charge, 
only the cracks of the Black Horse would be there stripped for 
the fight. 

In scouting it was still worse ; these timid recruits avoided the 
vicinity of a blue-coat with as much precaution as the Arab would 
a leper — hiding in the thick pine bushes and there staying until 
hunger sent them begging to some farm-house near. Sometimes 
a good half dozen would valiantly rush upon a blood-thirsty 
Yankee all unarmed, who would be caught in the desperate act 
of carrying a half dozen canteens of milk purchased from some 
neighboring farm. Quietly making his way to camp he would 
suddenly find himself confronted by these Black Horsemen and 
ordered to surrender. Of course he would yield himself and all 
portable possessions, his boots, his hat, his watch, &c., not for- 
getting the milk ; and thus despoiled he would be permitted to 
go. His captors would re-enter the thicket and proceed, like 
some other soldiers of whom we have read, "to cast lot for the 
raiment," and then they would present themselves before Cap- 
tain Randolph and lie worse than old x^nanias himself. 

The men were in truth not worth their salt, always deserting 
their comrades in times of menace. The gallant members of the 
organization had such contempt for the cravens that they made 
no effort to conceal it and rarely took any notice of them. This 
made no difference to them — what shame had they? They merely 
followed as jackals follow the lion. 

At this time the Black Horse was commanded by Captain Ran- 
dolph; and if ever nature intended a man for a soldier, he was 
that man. The military profession suited his taste. His habits 
and bent of mind, his magnetism and cool courage made him an 
ideal cavalryman and one who would be certain to rise should 
this branch of the service have opportunities to make itself a 
name. 

Little discipline was to be found in the cavalry, for although 
regular drills had been kept up in the past in evolutions, the 
sabre exercise and infantry tactics, but owing to incessant move- 
ments during the last two years of the war there ceased to be 
any drilling whatever. Few of the cavalrymen knew the manual 
of the sabre, indeed the men as a general thing looked upon that 
weapon, so far as its use for purposes deadly were concerned, with 
the most sovereign contempt. Many wore them under protest, 
while others liked to have them at home or upon a furlough, im- 
agining they imparted a suggestion of possibilities, a fierce and 



422 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

warlike appearance. A huge sabre hanging by the side was sure 
to bang and rattle against the boots, not to speak of the clanking 
on the floor when one sat down, scaring little children into fits, 
and then it was so ornamental. 

In regular service and for pacific purposes troopers found them 
very serviceable, and so these cavalry sabres were used in a way 
that would have made the old Cuirassiers of Kellerman or the 
Black Hussars of Duke Charles open their eyes with wonder. 
They were as axes and toasting forks, "devil a bit else," as Mike 
Cleburne used to say; for at the end of every march, after tent 
poles had been hacked down, a fire made, the weapon would be 
drawn, and upon it the meat, whose juice was the only blood it 
ever tasted, suspended over the flames. No richer, ruddier hu- 
man fluid stained black the points of cavalry sabres, and black you 
always found them. 

Then again in summer and autumn, when fruit hung low and 
ripe on the boughs, sabres were found uncommonly useful. 

But they had bloody scars. Often on the march, as we passed 
some farm-house, an incautious brood of spring chickens or an old 
goose would be spied contentedly waddling along the road like 
a buxom widow going to church. Then a circhng sweep of steel 
flashing in the sun, and the blood of the fowls would crimson 
the road. 

The sabre has seen its day and will rank hereafter in museums 
along with the bow and arrow, the lance and matchlock. A brace 
of six shooters and the breechloader render the sabre for military 
use more harmless and inofifensive than the club of the abo- 
rigines. 

What is read in newspapers of desperate cavalry charges in 
which hundreds fall, cleft from chin to chin with deadly steel, 
is in this day the veriest bosh. A century ago fighting was car- 
ried on in just such style, because the old flintlock fire-arm, after 
some dozen rounds, refused to go off or the flint would be broken 
or lost ; it was a weapon not safe to count upon all day. The 
bayonet never failed, and on it the soldier, placing his only con- 
fidence, was anxious to close with the foe. In the same manner 
the dragoon would fire off his holster bellmouth pistol, and then 
make a dernier resort of his sabre, in which case it became a 
terrible instrument of destruction. In this age, however, it would 
be folly. Suppose, by way of illustration, that in some great 
battle two hostile brigades of cavalry had met ; one is drawn up 
in line awaiting the charge, with breech-loading carbines and a 



THE BL,ACK HORSE CAVAERY 423 

pair of Colt's pistols carrying six shots each. The impetus of the 
rush may bear down the opposing line, but in the melee which 
would follow the sabre would be but a poor match for the twelve 
shots of each trooper. 

For deciding the fortunes of great battles the day of cavalry is 
numbered. For raids, cutting ofif communications and as mounted 
infantry, it is serviceable, but that is all. 

In the Seven Years' War, Seyditz, Frederick's chief of cavalry, 
was the greatest leader which the world ever produced. By con- 
stant drilling he formed a body of horsemen which under him 
were simply incomparable. Firing and dismounting were thrown 
in the background, and riding was made the specialty; he laid 
down several rigid rules for the guidance of his officers. In a 
charge, he said : 

"No firing shall be indulged in, and only cold steel used. No 
commander will allow his troops to fire a shot under penalty of 
infamous cashiering." 

By these tactics Frederick the Great won, through his splen- 
did cavalry, the battles of Zorndorf, Rosbach, Sturgan Leuthen 
and others, making Prussia the first country in Europe. 

Cromwell also won by the fierce charges of his cavalry, under 
Fairfax, the battles of Naseby and Marsden Moor. 

The introduction of breech-loading fire-arms has effected as great 
a revolution in this branch of service as the use of iron has rendered 
of solid granite fortifications, and stately line-of-battleships in mar- 
itime service things of the past. 

Victories for ages have been won by cold steel. Typical of 
carnage, it held its own for centuries ; but as human invention 
continued to perfect the art of destroying life, iron and lead have 
become, for the present, the all-potent factors. 

Yet there are exceptions to all rules. Bob Martin, of the Black 
Horse, always used his sabre in a charge, but he was the only cav- 
alryman I knew who did. 



CHAPTER IV. 

A DUSTY CAMP. 

The Black Horse formed a part of the Fourth Regiment of Cav- 
ah*y. The First, Second, Third and Fourth Virginia constituting 
Fitz Lee's brigade. 

The camp was pitched on both sides of the old Fredericksburg 
road, and had our commander racked his brains for months he 
could not have succeeded in selecting a more confoundedly dis- 
agreeable location in the whole section. The old dirt road was 
a wide thoroughfare, and notoriously the muddiest, most bottom- 
less, miriest highway in winter, and the dustiest in summer, in 
Virginia. When biting, chilling winds swept over the country, 
the murky water, lying in pools all along the route, would freeze, 
and in the thaw make a vast bed of mire, which destroyed the 
patience and moral sense as to the rightful use of words of all who 
waded through it. It roused every teamster and every artillery- 
man of both armies, as they whipped and spurred their caissons 
through the sticky mud, to a degree of profanity frightful to con- 
template. When the parching heat of summer drew on, the ooze 
and slime were changed into fine dust. In sooth, our command- 
ing general must have had a bad attack of cramp-colic, and felt 
at enmity with all the world, when he ordered the cavalry to camp 
along the unpleasant length of this road ; for within a short dis- 
tance fine and shady locations were to be had. The troopers 
were strung out upon this lane for half a mile. Very few had 
even shelter tents, and not even a bush near for protection against 
dew or the vertical rays of the midsummer sun. Fuel there was 
none, the few sticks necessary to boil the coffee and fry the 
meat having to be brought upon the men's backs from a forest 
nearly a mile away. It was the same way with the water, requir- 
ing a long tramp to fill the canteens from the distant branch. 

Our situation was not a pleasant one, as may be imagined; 
but all during the month of August the cavalry remained in the 
same spot. During this time there was a great drouth, not a 
drop of rain having fallen. Everything was dry and scorched ; 
the dust on the road seemed as deep as the sands of the deserts; 
while cavalrymen and supply-wagons were passing, and this was 
incessantly, there hung over that route a cloud of fine pulverized 



A DUSTY CAMP 425 

dust which filled every crevice, arrayed every object, animate and 
inanimate, with a Hght drab-colored covering of its own. This 
dust lined the inside of clothes, irritated the skin and inflamed 
the eyes; every mouthful of food was powdered with it as thickly 
as the epicure seasons with cayenne pepper his turtle soup. Each 
man ate his peck of dirt at this camp. 

Fredericksburg was about three miles off, but it had but little 
attraction for the soldiery, even in its best days. Now it was 
enough to give the most cheerful temper in the world an attack 
of blues to ride through it. Twice had the old burg been shelled 
and sacked, once by Burnside in the December befbre and again 
by Sedgwick only three months back, when he defeated the Rebel 
force which defended it, and tried to advance and assist Hooker, 
who was tangled up in the Wilderness at Chancellorsville, himself 
soon after repulsed. 

The streets were entirely forsaken, and the pavements almost 
hidden by the grass. Most of the houses were abandoned or oc- 
cupied by the camp followers and human jackals that followed in 
the army's wake. The gardens attached to the dwellings were 
grown rank with weeds and thistles, from amid which here and 
there a rose would struggle into sight, as if to its fragrance and 
beauty were entrusted the keeping of a few sweet memories. 
Windows were broken in and the doors were hanging by one 
hinge ; the plaster had been knocked from the walls, showing the 
rafters. In many roofs were jagged rents and holes, made by 
the shells or plunging round shot, through which the blue sky 
glimmered. Here and there were black, charred ruins, the re- 
mains of some happy homestead. The palings which once en- 
closed the dwellings were torn down, leaving only the posts. In 
many places the pavement was wholly obliterated and merged 
into the common road ; and nearly all the shade trees had been 
cut down for fuel. Every house bore the imprint of war, either 
by bullet or shell, while some were completely honeycombed, 
threatening to topple over every moment. 

On a hot summer evening Fredericksburg was the very in- 
carnation of the "Deserted Village." No children enlivened the 
streets or pierced the warm air with their happy, gladsome 
voices; no women sauntered along the pavements or showed 
fair faces at casement or windows ; no bustling merchant 
hurried about intent on business ; no family groups sitting at ease 
in the shadowed porch watching the setting of the sun ; from no 
open window came the happy laugh, the strains of a piano, the 



426 JOHNNY RDB AND BILLY YANK 

voice of song nor the murmur of low conversation ; instead there 
brooded over the place an oppressive silence, broken only by the 
sound of the echoing hoof-strokes and the rattling of the sabre 
as a few cavalrymen passed along the street. 

Some enterprising sutlers displayed meagre wares, but none 
ever appeared to invest in his stock. Here and there a vagrant 
cur would skulk through the streets with a fearful look as if ex- 
pecting each moment to hear the crashing of a shell. A cat would 
slink by and disappear up some shattered steps and into some half- 
open door. Everywhere gloom and ruin reigned supreme. 

A few days in camp and the condition of the troops improved. 
Immediately after breakfast most of the men struck off in squads, 
and reaching some spreading trees would be down under their 
shade, or spending the hours in the mysteries and delights of 
draw poker. There were no drills nor inspections, the whole day 
belonged to the trooper to dispose of as he might please. The 
camp was in fact abandoned. Our meals were the same as those 
issued to the infantry, simply hardtack and mess pork; but the 
cavalry fared infinitely better, as they were in the habit of for- 
aging and helping themselves unscrupulously to whatever they 
might want. So by the time the infantry arrived the country 
was pretty well stripped. 

No liner pastures in the world are to be seen than in the 
lowlands of Rappahannock ; while the uplands were parched and 
browned by the long drouth, down in those damp bottoms the 
grass was up to the knees. A few weeks had wrought a mar- 
velous change in the horses; from walking skeletons, scarcely 
capable of carrying their riders, they waxed strong, fat and lusty ; 
hardly able to move after the long, exhausting marches of the 
campaign, they kicked up their heels in the grassy meadows in 
an abandon of lazy ease. 

Every evening they were driven to camp, when each man se- 
lected his own horse and bestowed upon him a feed of oats and 
a good grooming ; in the morning they were again fed and turned 
out to pasture. It was wonderful to see how soon the vast herd, 
numbering thousands, would in half an hour be secured and tied 
up. The horse himself knew the routine as well as his master, 
and recognized his call without fail, or better still would come of 
his own accord directly to his own appointed hitching post, there 
to get his food and enjoy the pleasure of the currycomb. 

A horse guard was always detailed each morning, which. 



A DUSTY CAMP 427 

mounted, took positions on the boundaries and kept the animals 
from wandering away. 

So the month of August, 1863, passed swiftly by, with not even 
the sound of the distant cannon to remind the men that there was 
a war going on. Once a day would sound the cry of — 

"Watermillions, here's yer fine watermillions !" ringing clear 
and resonant, piercing the ears of all. This cry acted like the 
beat of the long roll to the infantry, bringing officers and pri- 
vates to their feet with a bound. Then ensued a mad rush for the 
cart; because the terms of the sale reminded one of the barber's 
placard : 

"First come first served." 

The vehicle was generally home-made, mounted on two ill-as- 
sorted wheels, and drawn by some old cavalry horse that had 
been turned out to die, but rallied enough to draw a cart slowly 
and with what seemed to be his last expiring effort. In this 
unique vehicle was a large pile of melons surmounted by an an- 
cient African, grinning from ear to ear at the result of his call. 

In a moment an eager crowd surrounded him, and the fruit 
was sold without loss of time. Two dollars apiece was the im- 
partial price. Perfect fairness was observed by the soldiers, who, 
much to their credit, always acted with scrupulous nicety so long 
as justice was done them ; but encountering one disposed to cheat 
or overcharge, the luckless trader was soon brought to under- 
stand that "honesty would be the best policy." 

A farmer came into camp one day with a two-horse wagon 
full of this delicious fruit — and the finest melons in the State 
are grown in these sultry, moist lowlands on the Rappahannock 
River. Stopping his team in front of the company he announced 
his wares. 

"What's the price?" inquired the crowd of soldiers. 

"Five dollars apiece," was the reply. 

"Now, old man, that's too much ; we have never paid but two 
dollars for the finest, and that is all that we can afford ; we don't 
get but eleven dollars a month, remember." 

"I've got nothing to do with that," said this country skinflint. 
"Them melons is worth five dollars apiece, and if you don't buy 
'em, there's plenty that will." 

So, tying the canvas cover tightly over the pile he cracked his 
whip and essayed to move on. The horses started and so did the 
tongue, but never the wagon. He cursed and swore, while the 
soldiers only answered with jibes and sneers. He entreated; 



428 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvIyY YANK 

they only laughed. Undeniably at their mercy, he tried cajolery, 
all to no purpose as he found. Time was passing, and there was 
a long way home, so at last he gave in and cried out in despair: 

"Gentlemen, I'll give you half of these here blessed melons if 
you gives me back my linchpin." 

The compact was made and the linchpin restored, and the 
soldiers had a glorious feast. 

The happy inspiration of stealing the linchpin originated with 
the reckless dare-devil Dick Martin. 

I thought the infantry were good foragers, but they could not 
hold a candle to the cavalry. Dick Martin took me aside one 
morning and told me where an old Harpagon, about five miles from 
camp, had a good field of corn just in the roasting-ear state and 
asked me to go along with him. Of course I went; I knew that 
that corn crop was doomed, so I might as well get the good of it 
as another. 

Within an hour we had filled our long forage-bags and carried 
them out into the road, and were sitting on them taking a rest 
when the owner came riding up — a wizened old fellow, with the 
most hooked nose I ever saw on a human face. He stopped, en- 
tered into conversation with us and began abusing the soldiers 
for stealing from him. To my astonishment I heard Dick Martin 
out-Herod Herod and damn the thieves with a force and redun- 
dancy of language that so pleased the old fellow that he invited 
us to his house to fill our canteens with buttermilk. We declined, 
however, and as he shook Martin's hand in adieu he said he 
wished all the soldiers in the army were as honest as he. I re- 
marked sotto voce, "If they were, the old man would not have 
stick nor stone left." Well, I reached the camp, left the corn in 
my shelter-tent and went to turn my horse loose, and when I re- 
turned my corn was gone, stolen by some of my own comrades. 



CHAPTER V. 

ON PICKET. 

It. was in the latter part of August ; orders were given to be 
prepared to go on picket early in the morning; and until a late 
hour the men were busy cooking rations and cleaning equipments. 

Before the mists had been chased by the rising sun, the com- 
pany in close column of fours marched down the road. Men and 
animals were in perfect condition, brimful of mettle and in buoy- 
ant spirits. 

The route lay along the banks of the river, upon the winding 
course of which, after several hours' riding, the regiment reached 
its destination and relieved the various pickets. A sergeant and 
squad of men were left at each post, the company being spread 
out several miles on the river banks to act as videttes, whose 
duty it was to watch the enemy on the other side of the Rappa- 
hannock. 

The next day our squad. Sergeant Joe Reid in command, saun- 
tered down the bank, but seeing no one we lay at length under the 
spreading trees, smoking as solemnly and meditatively as the re- 
doubtable Wilhelmus Keaft and all the Dutch Council, over the 
affairs of state. 

The Rappahannock, which was at this place about two hundred 
yards wide, flowing slowly oceanward, its bosom reflecting the 
roseate-hued morn, was as lovely a body of water as the sun ever 
shone upon. The sound of the gentle ripple of its waves upon 
the sand was broken by a faint "halloo" which came from the 
other side. 

"Johnny Reb; I say, J-o-h-n-n-y R-e-b, don't shoot!" 

Joe Reid shouted back, "All right !" 

"What command are you?" 

The spoken words floated clear and distinct across the water, 
"The Black Horse Cavalry. Who are you?" 

"The Second Michigan Cavalry." 

"Come out on the bank," said our spokesman, "and show your- 
selves ; we won't fire." 

"On your honor, Johnny Reb?" 

"On our honor, Billy Yank." 

In a second a large squad of blue-coats across the way ad- 



430 JOHNNY REB AND BH.LY YANK 

vanced to the water's brink. The Southerners did the same; 
then the former put the query. 

"Have you any tobacco?" 

"Plenty of it," went out our reply. 

"Any sugar and coffee?" they questioned. 

"Not a taste nor a smell." 

"Let's trade," was shouted with eagerness. 

"Very well," was the reply. "We have not much with us, but 
we will send to Fredericksburg for more, so meet us here this 
evening." 

"All right," they answered; then added, "Say, Johnny, want 
some newspapers?" 

"Y-e-s !" 

"Then look out, we are going to send you some." 

"How are you going to do it?" 

"Wait and see."*^ 

The Rebs watched the group upon the other side curiously, 
wondering how even Yankee ingenuity could devise a way for 
sending a batch of papers across the river two hundred yards 
wide, and in the meantime each man had his own opinion. 

"They will shoot arrows over," said Martin. 

"Arrows, the devil !" replied the sergeant ; "there never was a 
bow bent which could cast an arrow across this river." 

"Maybe they will wrap them around a cannon ball and shoot 
them across ; we'd better get away from here," hastily answered 
a tall, slim six-footer, who was rather afraid of big shots. 

A roar of laughter followed this suggestion, but the originator 
was too intent on his own awakened fears to let the sHghtest 
movement of the enemy pass unscanned. Eagerly he watched 
while the others wxre having all the fun at his expense. Pres- 
ently he shouted: 

"Here they come !" and then in a tone of intense admiration, 
"ril be doggoned if these Yanks are not the smartest people in 
the world." 

On the other side were several miniature boats and ships — such 
as school-boys delight in — with sails set; the gentle breeze im- 
pelled the little crafts across the river, each freighted with a 
couple of newspapers. Slowly, but surely, they headed for the 
opposite bank as if some spirit Oberon or Puck sat at the 
tiller; and in a few minutes had accomplished their voyage and 
were drawn up to await a favorable wind to waft them back. 

Drawing lots, Joe Boteler, who found luck against him, started 



ON PICKET 431 

to town, with a muttered curse, to buy tobacco, leaving his com- 
rades to seek some shady spot, and with pipes in our mouths sink 
deep in the contents of the latest war news from the enemy's stand- 
point, always interesting reading. 

It was a cloudless day, — a day to dream, — and with a lazy sans 
souci manner and half-shut eyes, enjoy to the soul the deep love- 
liness of the scene which lay around us like some fair creation of 
the fancy, listening the while to the trills of the blue-bird which 
sat on the top of a lofty tree industriously practicing his notes 
like a prima donna getting a new opera by heart. 

Joe returned in the evening with a box of plug tobacco about a 
foot square ; but how to get it across was the question. The minia- 
ture boats could not carry it, and we shouted over to the Yanks 
that we had about twenty pounds of cut plug, and asked them what 
we must do ? They hallooed back to let one of us swim across, and 
declared that it was perfectly safe. We held a council of war, and 
it was found that none of the Black Horse could swim beyond a few 
rods. Then I volunteered. Having lived on the banks of the Po- 
tomac most of my life, I was necessarily a swimmer. 

Sergeant Reid went to a house not far off and borrowed a bread 
trough, and placing it on a plank, the box of tobacco was shipped, 
and disrobing I started, pushing my queer craft in front of me. As 
I approached the shore the news of my coming had reached camp,- 
and nearly all the Second Michigan were lined up along the bank. 

I felt a little queer, but I had perfect faith in their promise and 
kept on without missing a stroke until my miniature scow grounded 
on the beach. The blue-coats crowded around me and gave me a 
hearty welcome, and relieving the trough of its load, heaped the 
craft with offerings of sugar, coffee, lemons, and even candy, till T 
cried out that they would sink my transport. I am sure they would 
have filled a rowboat to the gimwale had I brought one. 

There was no chaffing or banter, only roistering welcomes. 

Bidding my friends the enemy good-by, I swam back with the 
precious cargo, and we had a feast that night. 

O, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank had great respect for each other 
in those days. 

The vidette holding his post in the night on the banks of the 
river must be on the qui vivc every moment. The truce of the 
day ceases as soon as the sun has set and the evening star is seen. A 
strict watch is kept ; the pickets are doubled and the whole post 
is on the alert. 

Then with the coming on and deepening of night the imagina- 



432 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

tion is apt to play fantastic tricks and weaves shadows of its own. 
A floating tree is changed by magic moonbeams into a pontoon 
boat filled with armed men. The splash of a muskrat or otter 
is the low, hoarse tone of command ; the leaping of a fish from 
the water that sends the spray brightened into silver drops, is 
the gleaming of some rifle-barrel. It is not strange then that ever 
and anon there should float the tone of stern command : 

"Halt! Who comes there?" 

The vidette watches through the night with his senses playing 
freaks, while the owl, fresh from his day's snooze, chills his blood 
with its maniacal laughter. 

We stayed over a week on picket duty, and life the while was 
like that of the lotus eater: so calm, so dreamy, so full of perfect 
rest. 

The opposing videttes did not fire upon one another, but bathed 
in the cool, clear waters of both shores without fear of the deadly 
rifle-ball. Just as the wind shifted, the little international fleet 
would make their voyages — always loaded with papers or notes. 
One of the little boats arrived freighted with fish-hooks; so the 
Black Horse squad had fresh fish in addition to pure cofifee. There 
was no further intercourse, for the enemy had forbidden any such 
continued indulgences ; but they could not prevent the boat busi- 
ness and the little vessels were on the go all the time. 

It was with real regret that the videttes moved away, sending 
frail messengers on their final trip, laden with several courteous 
missives to the boys of the Second Michigan Cavalry, in apprecia- 
tion of the entente cordiale which had reigned between us. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE HON. JOHN MINOR BOTTS. 

The cavalry had had several light, trifling skirmishes during the 
late summer, and it was evident that no offensive operations 
would be commenced until the next spring. It was getting late 
in the fall, and neither army, after the deadly wrestle at Gettys- 
burg, felt like commencing the struggle anew. 

The brigade went into cantonment near Brandy Station, a bar- 
ren spot in all truth. It was the place where both armies had 
camped as they advanced, first one and then the other, until the 
vast plain had been packed smooth and beaten solid as a parade 
ground. 

It had turned quite cold by this time, especially in the night, 
when the ground would be white with frost. Tents were rare and 
camp-fires a necessity, but fuel was scarce and hard to obtain. 
Rations of plain, simple hardtack and fat pork three times a day 
had been reduced to a minimum, with an insufficient supply at 
that. It was simply impossible to obtain any country produce, 
for there was none to be had. 

Brandy Station, in Culpeper County, on the Virginia Mid- 
land Railroad, and indeed the vicinity for miles, was only a wild, 
barren waste, which showed the ravages of war to a greater ex- 
tent than any section of battle-scarred Virginia. It was a con- 
tested point, which both sides claimed on account of its proximity 
to the railroad as a base of supplies; and because, too, its level 
lands were so well adapted to an armed camp, the Rapidan River 
near by constituting the line of defense ; it was occupied alter- 
nately by both armies, and every fresh tenure rendered it, if pos- 
sible, more bare and desolate, the trail of war more apparent. It 
had been the scene of several cavalry engagements in which shot 
and shell had swept over the wide plateau, compelling the relin- 
quishment of most of the houses in that vicinity. Even if the 
owners had felt no fear for their families, from the missiles, which 
is not probable, they had been pillaged to a state of starvation by the 
thieving soldiery wearing both uniforms, and so had been forced to 
pull up stakes and leave for more promising lands. Fine houses 
had been torn down to supply material with which to build win- 
ter quarters. Shade trees of noble growth, as well as orchards of 
28 



434 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

choice fruit, had been cut down as fuel for camp-fires. As for 
wood, there was not even a stump. One could stand at the rail- 
road station and let his eye wander over a radius of miles and 
see no sign of human habitation, no smoke ascending, no cattle 
grazino-, nothing to arrest the eye as it wandered over the wide 
expanse. 

There was one exception, one oasis in the desert, one gleam 
of light which shone amid all this poverty, to be hailed by the 
wearied scout, traveling through the surrounding wretchedness, 
with as much joy as the sailor catches his first sight of land from 
the masthead. Tired horses would prick their ears and increase 
their gait w?ithout the incentive of the spur, as if they had sniffed 
their oats from afar ; for like the sanctuary founded by the Hos- 
pitallers in the fourteenth century, all footsteps, even in war, 
M'^hether of friend or foe, turned that way and entered its wide 
gates. 

It was a most remarkable thing to note in the midst of this 
ravaged land, this stately place, rich in all a country-seat needs 
to make up its adornment, well stocked, well pastured, well 
wooded, — fabled plenty, as it were, in the centre of famine, — the 
land of Goshen in famine-stricken Egypt. 

This was the estate of the Honorable John Minor Botts, one 
of the most brilliant men whom Virginia ever produced, and at 
one time after the war considered a possible nominee for the 
Presidency. Brainy, a thorough scholar, a deep thinker, he was, 
withal, a bundle of contradictions. A more right-hearted, wrong- 
headed man never lived ; but he was obstinate, head-strong by 
instinct as well as by practice. He was just the man who would 
take his place upon the judge's stand and watch a four-mile race, 
staking his money upon a favorite horse, who yet, when the horse 
was falling back to the rear, would not see what was patent to 
every one else : that his wager was a losing one, but with his 
natural, dogged disposition would only cry the more : "I double the 
bet that Planet wins!" 

Once choosing his course, he kept it ; neither threats, intimi- 
dation, persuasion or entreaties could move him one jot; he was 
of the stuff that martyrs are made, and he would die at the stake 
before he would recant. He, as an old-line Whig with all the 
strong characteristics and prejudices, served his party two years 
in Congress, and would have risen high in power but for his well- 
known peculiarities. 

At the beginning of the war-fever he assumed the position that 



the: HON. JOHN MINOR BOTTS 435 

the secession of a State from the American Union was a heresy 
and a crime; and upon this dogma he planted himself and main- 
tained his opinion with dogged resolution, defying the universal 
unpopularity and invective that either assailed him or let him se- 
verely alone. However, if it was his desire to be made a martyr 
of, he was disappointed ; the tide of affairs was rushing on too 
wildly for men to give much thought to the opinion of any one 
man, and Mr. Botts was permitted to go his way unheeded. 
While the stars of Lee and Jackson were rising high above the 
horizon, he continued outspoken and bitter in his denunciations 
against the "JeiT Davis Government," and refused to be concil- 
iated even by the ofifer of a Cabinet position. 

At last the authorities, thinking patience had ceased to be a virtue, 
arrested him in Richmond and sent him to his country seat in Cul- 
peper. He was told he might at any time go North, where his pre- 
dilections seemed to center. 

This did not suit him ; he had the same repugnance to taking 
an active part in favor of the North that he had in the South ; 
for once again he refused the Cabinet appointment which was 
tendered him, this time by Mr. Lincoln. He would accept, like 
Mr. Sampson, "nothing from nobody," and only asked to be let 
alone so that he might sit on his metaphorical and literal fence 
and hurl anathemas upon either side. 

Mr. Botts's idea was to play the part of the great pacificator; 
and when the hour should arrive, as "arrive it must," he used to 
say, and the North and South, all exhausted by the protracted 
struggle, and weary of the war, should conclude to reunite, then 
would they find in him a most admirable person ; the very man 
for the time, who with wonderful prescience had kept himself 
bottled up for just such an emergency. Of course he would be 
made President, and thus harmonize the conflicting elements of 
the Union. It was an original idea, ingenious, and not wanting 
in boldness, and might have succeeded, only it did not. 

His property was scrupulously respected by both armies, though 
the Rebels would steal his potatoes sometimes, and burn a few fence 
rails. 

So in this desolate region he passed his days, though far from 
quietly; there was too much excitement, — too much food for 
thought. He lived in the center of opposing armies and with 
keen interest watched the unfolding of history. No less than five 
pitched-battles between opposing cavalry took place within plain 
view of his house; but no matter what the result: whether the 



436 JOHNNY REB AND BIL,L,Y YANK 

blue whipped the gray, or the gray thrashed the blue, it made no 
difference to him ; nor did he lose a sheep or a cow in conse- 
quence ; for even while the bursting shells filled the air, his cattle 
grazed on his broad fields as free from harm as if peace were 
smiling over the land. 

In person Mr. Botts seemed about sixty-five years of age, was 
nearly six feet high, stout, and the very personification of health. 
His brow was low and broad, his jaw like a bulldog's ; his eyes 
in repose were dull and glassy, but when animated by his theme 
they flashed with a hidden fire, and became luminous with intel- 
ligence. His voice was as clear as a bugle, every syllable falling 
with, a perfect enunciation of its own. 

Whatever his faults may have been, they were still undeniably 
great ones ; for littleness of any kind was foreign to his nature. 
With him hospitality was a virtue ; no Arab ever held the rights 
of a guest more sacred, his door was open to all and his roof of- 
fered as welcome a shelter to the blouse and jacket of the private 
as to the shoulder straps of the officer. He was popular with 
both armies ; both admired that independence of thought as well 
as the courage which rendered him incapable of dissembling. 

One day he would entertain general officers of the Yankee army 
at his table, and the next day the stars of the Rebel commander 
would be met there. His table was always loaded with the 
choicest and best in the season, and as a host he was unrivaled. 
The charm of his conversation was like hearing a rich tide of 
music, and in his presence one forgot place and circumstance, as 
vivid imagery, rich thought and sparkling humor issued from his 
lips. 

He loved the blue as well as the gray ; the gray as well as the 
blue, provided no horse thieves had been prowling recently 
around his premises, and provided you did not once pronounce 
the word "Democrat," which would inflame him as much as the 
matador's red flag did the bull in the arena. He was as jovial an 
old fellow as one could find from the Potomac to the Brazos. 

After supper, seated beside the broad hearth, glowing with a 
large wood-fire, was the time to appreciate our host ; his mar- 
velous conversational talent would bloom and expand as at no 
other hour. On every subject he was at home, and invested it 
with the charm of his own mind ; even with regard to the war, 
that threadbare topic, it would be a revelation to hear his views, 
so different from the old set formulas; it was like first hearing an 
air pla3^ed by some camp musician, and then listening to its 



THE HON. JOHN MINOR BOTTS 437 

measures from the hands of the maestro as he draws his magic 
bow and gives you the melody of his artist soul. 

Mr. Botts never believed that the South could succeed in es- 
tablishing an independent Confederacy. Their one opportunity, 
he often told me, was before the blockade was estabHshed, when 
the Confederate Government had the chance to send all their 
cotton to England, and with the proceeds buy munitions of war 
and build ships. 

Neither did he think the result of the war would be the recon- 
struction of the South ; rather that there would be an amicable 
reunion with the simple abrogation of slavery. 

No matter what his political opinions were or how strongly 
they might read, now that his future is past, — now that future 
events justified his prophecies, unpalatable as they then were, — 
well ! there are hundreds of soldiers of both armies who have a 
pleasant thought and kindly remembrance for the man who took 
them in, fed them when they were half famished and asked no 
reward, who never turned man nor beast from his door, but wel- 
comed all at a time when many estates in that section, and es- 
pecially in Madison County, belonging to Southern men (to 
their shame be it said), had huge placards on the gates bearing 
the inscription : '*No soldiers entertained here." 

One evening, in the winter of 1863, I asked Mr. Botts to give 
me his calm, cool opinion of the two armies (Lee's and Meade's), 
and said that I believed he was the only man in America who was 
in a position to judge. He spoke freely and fully, and when in 
my room I jotted down the main points of his conversation in 
my diary before I retired that night. 

"As far as personal bravery goes," he remarked, "I can per- 
ceive no difference ; man to man, if equally well led, would be 
Greek meeting Greek. The Federal army is under stricter dis- 
cipline, is numerically superior in men and munitions of war; and 
the natural question follows, why, with all of these advantages, 
they are invariably defeated in their advance to Richmond? The 
cause is easy to explain. If the Federal army has heavier artil- 
lery and stronger battalions, the Confederate army has more pa- 
triotism : I mean by that, the love of State is stronger in the 
average man, than love of the Union ; just as to the mediocre 
man, his love for his earthly father is stronger than his love for 
his heavenly One. The one is tangible, the other intangible and 
founded on faith and sentiment. His State, to nine men out of 
ten, is dearer than the Union for the simple reason that his State 



438 JOHNNY RKB and BILLY YANK 

holds all that he values on earth, while the Union is an abstract 
affair — a mere sentiment. Then every game-cock fights best on 
his own dnng-hill, as was proven at Gettysburg. The South has 
one powerful advantage, and that is, her army is controlled by 
one man, and that man is unquestionably the greatest captain 
of the age. As for the Army of the Potomac, it is cursed and 
hampered with politics, and where you find politics you are 
bound to find corruption. At least half the officers in the Army 
of the Potomac owe their positions to influential politicians. 
Thus the esprit de corps of Lee's army is far higher than Meade's." 

I asked him if the Union officers with whom he had conversed 
agreed with him in his views. 

He answered, "No, they think the conflict is between a feudal 
aristocracy and democracy, and between a monarchical and a re- 
publican form of government." 

I asked him what course ought the South to pursue. 

He answered : "I have thought long over that matter, and I 
see but one way out of the hole that Jefif Davis, Bob Toombs, and 
the like kidney have dragged the South into. There is only one 
course of action which, in my opinion, will save Lee's army from 
certain destruction : Let Davis seek a truce from President Lin- 
coln and march the Rebel armies to Mexico, and drive out Maxi- 
milian." 

So during the last year of the war the voluntary hermit strolled 
upon his estate, listened calmly to the noise of the cannonading, 
busied in the little cares of a farmer's life ; and the great mind 
which should have occupied itself in the graver question of policy 
fraught with the weal or woe of a country, the high intellect which 
was capable of vast combinations contented itself with studying 
out an improved stall for his blooded horses, or a new model yoke 
for his oxen. 

After all, he was content, and no man can desire or ask to be 
more. 

I write this freely of Mr. Botts, because he was a near relation 
of mine, and he was proud of his blood, even though, as he used 
to say: 

"You are one of the damndest Rebels who ever acknowledged 
Jeff Davis as your master." 

Still his house was my home, and his hand-clasp was always 
warm and reassuring. 



- CHAPTER VII. 

HARD TIMES. 

Time in camp was chiefly spent in collecting wood, and cook- 
ing all manner of things that might induce our meager rations to 
go as far and last as long as possible. But two crackers and a 
half pound of fat meat per day (the devil of a particle else!) of- 
fered no great range for experiment; neither did it satisfy the 
hunger of able-bodied men. They resorted, however, to the old 
expedient of chewing tobacco; while for the same reasons the 
horses began to nibble the bark from whatever tree they were 
fortunate enough to find. 

The Black Horse embodied the glummest set of men ever 
seen. Some tried to forage, but would come back in the evening 
completely fagged out and in a savage humor, for there was noth- 
ing to be had. The lonesome farm-houses here and there had 
naught to give or sell ; the inmates themselves owning scarce 
enough to keep body and soul together. 

At last orders came to change camp; and it was with some- 
thing of the old buoyant feeling that the troopers found them- 
selves in the saddle again. 

There is a true old saw to the effect that "it is neither wise 
nor desirable to jump from the frying-pan into the fire;'' but 
these soldiers had successfully accomplished it ; for if Brandy 
County was bad, Madison County was worse. One was negative 
unhappiness, the other, positive wretchedness. 

It was a common saying among the cavalry, ''that when a crow 
undertook to fly over Madison County, it must needs take a hav- 
ersack to keep from starving." 

Truly they were a sad people to camp among, for having been 
almost eaten out, they had but little left and hoarded that. 

The cavalrymen found it an unlucky region for even a passing 
ride after dark, provided he carried no rations with him : he 
might travel for hours through the low, scrubby pine woods, and 
reach some house at last, only to be told there was absolutely 
nothing for either him or his horse. In vain would he try the old 
dodge of asking for a place by the fire and a handful of hay ; they 
would tell him that their children had not enough to eat and that 
their cattle were starving. What could he answer? Nine times 



440 JOHNNY RDB AND BILI,Y YANK 

out of ten it was a woman who would tell this ; the men were in 
the army, and sometimes it was only necessary to look into the 
wan, pinched faces of herself and children to know that every 
word which she uttered was true. There was nothing then to do 
but to mount his anatomy of a steed and keep moving; keep on 
with his stumbling over the rock-bound road as best he might, 
for to an impartial observer it seemed as though all the stones 
in the universe had been dumped into Madison County. 

Although poor, Madison County gave to the South splendid 
soldiers; it furnished a company to the Fourth, and its com- 
mander. Captain Strother, we considered one of the most daring 
and skilful officers in the regiment. His men were worthy of him, 
for they always followed his lead unfalteringly. 

The Fourth went into bivouac near Madison Court House, and 
then commenced a battle of endurance against starvation. Very 
often the men would get no meat at all, only two crackers a day, 
which would be eaten in two minutes, and then nothing else would 
pass their lips until the next day. They began to grow mutinous, 
and many saddled their horses and openly left the camp, to be absent 
for days on foraging expeditions in the neighboring county. The 
officers tried to check this but failed. Indeed they perceived 
that the men were weakening from famine, and that it was too 
much to expect from human nature to sit still and die by inches. 

Worse was to come ; the hard bread was to be changed to a 
pound of meal a day ; meal it was called, but the God of Hungry 
Souls save the mark ! Nothing more or less than a mixture of 
ground corn cobs, husks and saw dust; it was withal so sour that 
any decent dog would reject it. This was often every morsel 
they would have for their rations, and they dared not sift it, for 
there would not have been enough of pure meal to fill a cup. 
Full rations consisted of a pound of this acidulated dry bran and 
a quarter of a pound of fat pork, which served to grease the skillet. 

It is a startling fact that long and continuous hunger brings 
out the animal in the face, and the likeness becomes so strong that 
the most careless glance is arrested by it. Little by little the in- 
tellect disappears from the countenance, divine reason from the 
eyes, and the face grows gaunt, lean and lank, while its expres- 
sion becomes that of a lower order of creation, a brutish animal. 
One soldier resembles a fox, another a cat ; there is a hyena ; 
yonder with locked jaws and savage eyes is a bull-terrier; the 
one with that honest, open look is a mastiff, and so on from one 
to another, until you fancy the doctrine of the transmigration 



HARD TIMES 441 

of souls an easy creed to believe. After all, Circe, changing by 
her magic potion the Grecian Argonauts into swine, is but an 
allegory representing hunger. 

What a great leveler famine is ; under its potent influence the 
courier forgets his craft, the king his kingly way, the Chester- 
field his politeness, the gentleman his creed and all men become 
the same; for it strips away every mental attribute as the valet 
disrobes a form, leaving all molded after one image. 

A soldier can stand sieges, breast battles, and bear hardships, 
and still, like a cork, dance buoyantly from wave to wave of ad- 
versity, but this slow perishing in blank inaction day after day — 
this long drawn out agony, is more than men can endure. Neither 
they nor their amor patriae can resist its assault. 

If the troopers were famishing, so were their horses, for it was 
now December, and the pastures were brown and bare. Of 
course the animals had to depend upon the issued rations, which, 
to do them justice, were only enough to sustain life. It was sad 
to see the wistful, half-human gaze the poor brutes cast upon 
their owners, mutely imploring food. In their distress they would 
actually eat bushes, dried sticks and leaves. Fully one-half of 
them were incapable of getting up a gallop, a trembling trot being 
their fastest gait. The truth was, the cavalry looked like a hos- 
pital for all the broken-down street-car horses ; or a glue factory 
where all antediluvian steeds awaited slaughter. A cavalryman in 
his saddle presented a far more dilapidated picture than ever did 
the lean knight, De la Mancha, mounted on his Rosinante. 

What a deplorable, suicidal policy it turned out to be, that pur- 
sued by the Government in making the horse the personal prop- 
erty of the cavalryman, and permitting him to return home when 
anything happened to his cattle, even on such excuses as the 
animal's thinness. These "horse details," as they were called, kept, 
on an average, fully one-fourth of the men absent. 

About this time a large squad of the Black Horse, much to 
their delight, obtained horse details, and not possessing a private 
corral of their own, prepared to go within the lines of the enemy 
and capture mounts from their friends the blue-coats. This was 
the general custom of the Fauquier men under such circum- 
stances, and thanks to its success the cracks of the Fourth man- 
aged to keep in the saddle. As for the rifY-rafif of the company, 
few of them had horses, and so kept up with the wagon-train; or 
if there were any of them so unfortunate as to own one, something 
was always happening to the poor animal, and once off on a fur- 



442 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

lough it required strong faith to hope to see him again under six 
months. 

Our party, composed of seven, saddled our lank animals and 
struck for the camp of the enemy, our caparisoned chargers so 
impaired by want of food that they could hardly get out of a walk ; 
such spectres, in short, that the sun found it hard to cast a shadow 
with them. 

The balance of the command cast envious glances upon us, for 
it was Hke being in Purgatory and seeing one's friends depart on 
a ticket-of-leave for Paradise. As for me, I was so starved that 
no tliought entered my head except that connected with my stom- 
ach. I had dreamed, talked and thought of nothing but eating 
for the last two months, and my rapture was like Justice Greedy 
in Massinger's great play: "A new way to pay old debts," and 
I felt like exclaiming: 

"Oh here will be feasting for over a month, 
I am provided; guts croak no more, 
You shall be stuffed like bagpipes." 

Yet in all of this trying period I heard no word of discourage- 
ment or distrust from the soldiers ; not one among the rank and 
file had a doubt of success ; and the country people Hved literally 
from hand to mouth, raising no crops, stripped bare of all cattle, 
and managing to keep from dying by a thousand shifts. 

The young boys and girls set their rabbit-gums as regularly 
as the day came, and the whole country flocked to a deserted 
Yankee camp, snatching the half-consumed rations which were lib- 
erally left behind, and laying in a stock of hardtack and pork, which 
did much toward keeping them alive. 

Even among some of these unlettered country people, who 
could not understand what the fighting was about, there was no 
cry of submission ; they would only ask us, with wan faces and 
sunken eyes, "For God's sake drive the Yankees out for good : and 
soon, too, for we cannot stand it much longer!" 



CHAPTER VIII. 

WITHIN THE enemy's UNES. 

The Federal army, now under command of General Meade, lay 
for the most part in Culpeper County, though one corps of in- 
fantry and a division of cavalry had gone into winter quarters 
in Fauquier. 

Along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, their line of com- 
munication and supply, strong garrisons were encamped at all 
of the various stations to protect the road from the attacks of 
Mosby, whose name had now become a household word. 

The Rebel army was stretched between the Rapidan and Gor- 
donsville, with General Lee's headquarters at Orange Court 
House ; the Rapidan River being the dividing line between the 
hostile forces. 

It was the design of our detail to get within the enemy's line 
on foot and lurk near their camp in Fauquier, so as to take pris- 
oner any cavalrymen they might find, and by this simple process 
obtain good mounts. 

With this intention we made an early start from camp so as 
to get through Madison County before dark, striking off in the 
direction of Little Washington, about twenty-five miles on the 
left, where we proposed crossing the Rappahannock by flanking 
the enemy's pickets, whom we did not think extended so far. 

Our little junto, after a tiresome ride on our decrepit nags, 
camped for the night in the woods; an unlooked-for proceeding, 
as we had fully expected to reach the river before dark, but the 
road was so rocky, the horses so weak, that we could only go at 
a very slow gait. However, this we accomplished the following 
evening. 

Situated upon the hill above the river was a large farm-house 
We rode up and were received most hospitably by the old far- 
mer, who made us alight and took us in. 

We determined to make an attempt to cross the river after mid- 
night, for it was impossible to find out beforehand whether or not 
the ford near by was guarded by Yankee videttes ; besides, it com- 
menced to rain, and with every hour the down-pour increased until 
at last a storm was raging. This made us particularly anxious to 



444 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

cross before the rise of the river would render (it might be for 
days) all fording impossible. 

Onr kind entertainers promised to attend to the horses for a 
very moderate sum, so there was nothing to detain us. 

That night was as dark as dark could be ; one could not see 
his hand a few inches before his eyes. We marched in single file 
and with lock-step, each man's hand resting on the shoulder of 
his file leader, like so many convicts on the way to prison meals. 

It was enough to try the nerves of any one to listen to the roar 
of the turbulent water, all unseen in the blackness, as it rushed, 
seethed and bubbled over the rocks. 

"I am familiar with every foot of this ford," said Taylor, "and 
1 know it to be safe. My only fear is that the enemy's pickets 
are on the other side, but that must be risked." 

"Shall we take off our breeches?" asked one. 

"If you wish ; I do not propose to shed mine," answered Cay- 
nor, a slab-sided fellow, with features like a sheep. 

"I will for one," said I, "for in case we should be swept down 
stream we will certainly drown with our clothes on." 

"That's so," chimed in several. 

Out of the six, five removed their lower garments and rolled 
them in a bundle. We strapped our pistols more firmly around 
our necks, having left our sabres and carbines behind ; and then 
in the same order, single file, with Taylor in front, we made our 
way down the slippery bank. Slippery? perhaps it was! for the 
head file's feet flew from under him and he slid into the water, 
followed by the rest, whose hold one upon the other had never 
loosened. 

Like a gigantic colony of bullfrogs we plumped squarely into 
that big pond. Whew! Ugh! How cold the water was, just as 
it came from the mountain rills. It started our teeth off in the 
Castanet business, with sufficient vim to supply music for a whole 
ballet. 

"Hold on to one another, boys !" shouted Taylor above the storm ; 
"don't let go your hold, whatever you do !" 

The water was up to our waists, and the current was nearly 
carrying us off our feet. In close order we were slowly making 
our way across, and had nearly reached the opposite bank, when 
plump ! splash ! the hind man, who happened to be my unfor- 
tunate self, stumbled headlong; and as I only clutched the more 
tightly, I pulled the next man down ; he hung onto the third and 
carried him down, and so on until the whole crowd was scramb- 



WITHIN THE enemy's EINES 445 

ling at the bottom. Very fortunately, though the water was 
deep, a bend in the bank above kept off the current, or the con- 
sequences would have been more serious. As it was, all the de- 
nuded five lost their bundles, which swept downward and were 
never seen again. A few steps brought us to land, and then we 
listened with hearts in our mouths. 

"All right," said the leader, "the Yankees are not here." 

"It may be all right for you," replied one of the shivering sol- 
diers, "but what are we going to do?" 

"I'll be damned if those weren't the last pair of breeches I 
had!" said Doc. Butler, one of the sufferers. "I feel like I had 
been burned out of house and home, with those garments gone." 

"Drowned out, you mean," suggested a friend, who could not 
enter as deeply into the sorrows of the occasion as he might have 
done, having kept his trousers on. 

"I'll be blessed if I go to anybody's house in my bare legs !" ex- 
claimed Lai. Ashton, a long, shambling-looking fellow. 

"Not only my breeches, but my drawers and my boots too!" 
moaned I. 

"If this is what you call scouting," remarked Ned Martin, "I 
have a contempt for it. I've enough of it ; let me get back to the 
infantry as fast as I can." 

"Come on, fellows," said the leader, "we can't stand talking 
here all night. We'll go to Marshall's, about a mile from here; 
maybe he has enough breeches for you all; we'll stop there to- 
night anyhow if the Yankees are not around." 

In the same close ranks we started off. It was freezing; each 
man was shivering, while our limbs were purple with cold. We 
reached the house and a loud knock on the door caused a light 
suddenly to spring up within, and then the flames disappeared to 
be followed shortly after by the master at the open door. Shad- 
ing his eyes from the flaring tallow dip, he peered intently into 
the darkness. He was very pale and evidently thought us to be 
some marauding party of the enemy, for after a few brief words 
of explanation he drew a long breath of relief and invited us to 
enter. 

No sooner did his eyes rest upon the strange crowd, fully 
apparelled as to the upper half, the lower denuded, than he drop- 
ped into a chair and laughed until the tears rolled down his 
cheeks. If he made an effort to recover his voice and do the 
honors of the house, one sight of the lugubrious set would start 



446 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

him off again as if he had just began, until it seemed probable 
we would spend the night there. 

The serious crowd, who, by the way, had been standing as solemn 
as owls, looking like so many pelicans arrayed with one feather, 
gently reminded him that they were cold. 

''Gentlemen," said he, "I beg your pardon, but I have lived 
here as boy and man for fifty-eight years and never saw a sight 
like this; O Lord!" he exclaimed, going off in a fresh paroxysm, 
as with an effort he conducted us up-stairs to a room in which 
there were three beds. 

"Can you manage to crowd in here together?" he asked. 

We answered that we could, and we did. 

In the morning we were awakened by our host, who informed 
us that breakfast was ready and that his "old woman" had over- 
hauled his wardrobe and found breeches for all. "And some of 
them are pretty dilapidated," he added as he left the room. 

He was right ; two pairs seemed to have done service for 
years in stuffing a broken window; two were comparatively 
good; but one pair had evidently been worn by the gentleman 
whose duty it was to scare the crows from the corn-field; they 
were simply fearful to look at. 

But on they had to go; our host was a short, pot-bellied man, 
while we were all thin, very thin; and those breeches, which 
would have fit Mynheer Vanderdecker, could have held us all. 
It was that or nothing, so in we dropped, and cut each one as 
funny a figure as the "Artful Dodger" himself. Ashton, who was 
six feet tall and about as fat as a mullen stalk, saw his outfit refuse 
to come below the knee, leaving his shanks sticking out in a re- 
markable manner. 

"I was never so dressed in my life before!" he exclaimed piteous- 
ly ; and he was believed. 

My share of this unique contribution was a pair of Yankee 
pants discarded as worthless by the owner. 

It was a ludicrous procession which filed into breakfast. The 
old lady nearly went into fits, though she tried to be polite and con- 
dole with us, yet as she listened to our recital she wiped her eyes 
repeatedly. 

Having finished our meal and made our adieus, we started on 
cur journey, the sorriest-looking collection of humanity that ever 
greeted human eyes. Ashton stalked in front, an old slouch hat 
falling over his face, his jacket reaching only half way down his 
back and his pants gathered loosely around his waist by his pistol 



WITHIN THE ENEMY S UNES 447 

belt and hanging in ruffles around the bare, thin ivnees. The rest 
were equally grotesque. 

Lai. was heard complaining of his stylish and novel suit: 
''Because it let the wind in," he said, as if a man could ever be 
satisfied this side of Eden. 

It was still raining, and forsaking the road we made our way 
in as straight a line as the crow flies, through woods, fields and 
briers, meeting no soul on our journey. It was nearly night when 
we halted, and seeing a house, stopped for the night. The owner, 
an old gentleman bent double with age, informed us that the 
Yankee camps were but a short distance away. 

On the following evening the party drew up in a woods near by 
and after a stormy discussion agreed to separate. Taylor only 
wished to rejoin his wife, who lived not far distant; the two But- 
lers wanted to go home and remain there ; Ashton and Caynor 
had no fixed idea about anything; they did not covet a horse; 
the only object in life that the soul of the former craved was a 
pair of breeches. So they all scattered, leaving Ned Martin and 
myself to pursue the object of our journey. 

After a little deliberation we struck out for Libertyville, a small 
village of one house not far from Bristow Station, around which 
the cavalry were camped. The pines were thick, and as we could 
have found no better place for an ambuscade, we lay in wait for 
three days. All in vain, the Yankees had learned caution by fre- 
quent lessons. Not a cavalryman stirred from camp alone nor 
even in squads. A courier sent from one brigade to another, not 
the distance of a half mile, must needs have a large escort of 
horsemen. 

They seemed to think the dense piney woods concealed scores 
of bushwhackers and guerrillas ready to seize the first trooper 
who incautiously ventured out ; consequently, stringent orders had 
been issued against any soldiers stepping outside the cordon of 
guards which encircled each cantonment. 

During those three days we halted over a score of Yankee de- 
serters who, without arms, were striking northward. These were 
not disturbed, but instead, all the information was given them 
that they needed with regard to roads and route. They were 
a hard-looking set, real gallows-birds and bounty-jumpers, of 
whom the Northern army was well rid. They, without a doubt, 
only bred dissatisfaction wherever they went. 

Southern scouts in this section were taken care of, each house- 
hold extending the warmest welcome without a thought of con- 



448 JOHNNY RKB AND BIIvIvY YANK 

sequences if discovered. But it was not safe to linger in any 
house where negroes waited ; it would have been worth hardly 
a cent's toss-up as to whether or not they would slip over to the 
Yankee camp and give information that Rebel scouts were in 
the dwelling. Consequently it was the custom to leave the prem- 
ises immediately on obtaining food ; making a lair in the deepest 
recesses of the woods, where scouts were safe enough. No ene- 
my ever penetrated into the depths of the forest. 

Finding how fruitless was our mission, and hearing that the 
Black Horse had been sent inside the lines for the winter, on 
scouting duty, and had established a rendezvous at Salem, a 
village in Fauquier, some seventeen miles away, Martin and my- 
self proceeded thither, where we found the troop scattered in vari- 
ous farm-houses, engaged in recuperating themselves and horses, 
but ready at the shortest summons to mount and away on foray 
or raid. 

The Christmas holidays passed like a dream. The mountain 
region of Fauquier County was comparatively untouched by the 
war; except an occasional raid no enemy camped on its hills. It 
was considered the most fruitful section of Mosby's Confederacy. 

The inhabitants were, without a single exception, devoutly 
loyal to the State, and fed and sheltered the Black Horse troops 
and Mosby's partisans throughout the war. 

Every winter the Black Horse were sent on detached service to 
Fauquier, not only to recuperate but to do all the damage they 
could to the enemy ; and they aided Mosby materially in his 
raids, and several of his officers were taken from our ranks. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CAPTURED. 

But few prisoners were taken that winter. The Yankees had 
learned caution and kept their men within the confines of camp. 
Still, by close watching a group would be darted upon and gob- 
bled up and sent within our lines. It would seem at first sight 
almost impossible for one man to convey several prisoners alone 
through a dangerous country and by circuitous routes over fifty 
odd miles, making sundry stops on the way, and finally delivering 
them at their destination to the provost guard; yet it was done 
frequently, and but few escaped. 

A cavalryman would receive the prisoners confided to his care, 
as a charge which he was to transfer to the proper authorities, 
receiving as voucher the receipt of the provost marshal at 
Orange Court House. Consequently he omitted no precaution, 
and never relaxed his vigilance. He would travel all da}^ with 
the prisoners in advance, the halters of the horses tied together 
to prevent any scatter or break for liberty. Certainly there was 
a chance of running afoul of some Yankee scouting party, when 
of course the scout abandoned his prisoners and lost no time in 
saving himself. But if luck befriended him, and he met none 
other than a scout like himself, he would stop at some farm-house. 
where the whole party would get supper and sit chatting ami- 
cably by the fireside. Should the scout think that he could trust 
one of his men or all of them, he would place him or them on 
parole not to attempt escape on the route; but if he found them 
hard cases he kept a close watch at all times. 

All this is very well, it may be said ; but how can one soldier 
guard three all day and all night without relief; and not only for 
one day and night, but oftentimes for three days in succession? 

The manner of it was simplicity itself. When the hour for re- 
tiring arrived, the prisoners were compelled to disrobe and as- 
sume the very same garb which Adam wore before Mrs. Eve 
came along to worry him about his tailor's bills. They were then 
placed two or three in a bed, which was always in the top room of 
the house, and in which they were tucked in by the trooper as 
carefully as a mother arranges the covering around the form of 
her sick child. This done, he would depart to his own rest, car- 
29 



450 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

rying with him every vestige of their clothes and even their 
shoes ; then locking the door after him, he would lie on a pallet 
outside and sleep with his pistol in his hand. 

Of course the prisoners might escape if it so pleased them ; 
there was nothing to prevent them from tearing up the sheets, 
making a rope and sliding to the ground, for the slumbers of the 
guard were profound. But then they would have been obliged 
to wander all unclothed through a country unknown to them, tra- 
versed by Rebel scouts, and in the midst, too, of a bitterly hostile 
population, wherein the hand of not only every man, but every 
woman and child, would have turned against them. 

Recapture could hardly have been avoided, and death by some 
cowardly bushwhacker was possible, so that the risk was very 
great. None but a man of coolest nerve and intrepidity would 
think of giving it a trial. 

Among the thousands of prisoners sent by scouts to the pro- 
\ost marshal I never heard of but three or four who ever suc- 
ceeded in escaping. 

On the morning of the sixteenth of January, 1864, I mounted 
my horse and started on a scouting expedition all by myself. 

My object was to lie by the Federal cavalry camp near Warren- 
ton and capture a good horse at all hazards. I had a mount, but 
the steed was in a pitiable condition, and nothing but months of 
perfect rest and full feeding could bring him up again. I was 
riding along unsuspicious of danger, quietly pursuing a side road 
which led into the Warrenton Turnpike, about two miles from 
Fauquier Springs, when I saw through the scattered trees, not a 
hundred yards away, a scouting party of Union cavalry wending 
its way leisurel}' along the pike. 

My only chance, I thought, was to dismount and slip off un- 
perceived ; and if I could reach that little stone church over 
yonder, I might hide and get away. They might not even 
chance to look that way. 

So I slipped quietly down and started for the little edifice. 
The blue-coats were going slowly along the road, all unconscious 
of their foe. Had I been near thick pine woods I would have 
been perfectly secure, but it was an open oak grove, through 
which pursuing cavalry could speed at a gallop. The church was 
on my left and I was doing my best to reach it, darting stealthily 
from tree to tree as rapidly as possible. 

Everything went w-ell : the Federals had almost disappeared, 
and in a minute I would be safe. I neared the church door and 



CAPTURED 451 

was about to enter ; a second and I would have been inside, when 
I dropped to the ground as if shot. A Federal cavalryman had 
left the ranks and was cantering toward the church. He stopped 
within fifty yards of me, where there was a stream flow- 
ing. He started to water his horse and I watched him with 
straining eyes ; saw him give his steed the bridle, and taking a 
pipe from his saddle pocket, charge and proceed to light it. 
I watched the curling smoke float above his head. The horse 
finished drinking and he gathered the reins preparatory to riding 
oft*. I drew a long breath of relief, but it was too soon; for just 
then my confounded, infernal horse gave a long, loud neigh. 

The suddenness of the shock upon that young blue- jacket 
almost made him drop from his saddle, but only for a moment. 
Looking earnestly in the direction from which the sound pro- 
ceeded, he saw my horse fully accoutred. Giving a long halloo 
he advanced slowly. 

He had passed beyond without discovering me, but his shout 
had been heard and a score of comrades came flying toward him. 

In a second I rushed through the open door of the church. 
It was a small, common edifice, such as one often sees in the 
country ; a plain square building with no attempt at adornment. 
It had been ravaged and nothing remained but the pulpit. There 
was no place which could serve for concealment; but in the 
corner was a ladder leading to the loft. Up this I wxnt without a 
word, pulling it after me ; and then I sat there in the dark with 
beating heart to wait developments. 

I had not long to wait. In half a minute the church was thronged 
with the dismounted troopers. 

"He's not here," said a number of voices. 

"I tell you he is, for I saw him enter," replied a positive voice. 

"Then where is he?" chorused several. 

"There !" exclaimed one of the number excitedly, "up that hole 
yonder, look !" 

Then was heard the clicking of many revolvers. By a kind 
of mesmeric instinct I felt that a score of eyes were gazing into 
that black cavity. 

"Shoot up," suggested one. 

"Let's burn the d old thing down," proposed another voice. 

"Smoke 'em out." 

It was not a pleasant conversation to listen to; it might have 
been more soothing, to say the least, though I could not deny 
that it was both racy and edifying. I realized for the first time 



452 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

how a coon feels when a ramrod is inserted down the crevice and 
screwed into his hide ; reaHzed also the anguish of a rabbit's soul 
just on the eve of being smoked out of its hollow. I did not 
know what to do. It seemed Hobson's choice, whether to be 
burned or sufifocated, and ended by cursing under my breath with 
might and main the wretched old brute who could find no other 
time for displaying his hideous music but when my fate was 
hanging trembling in the balance. 

Oh, confound him ! A thousand times confound him ! Con- 
found that infernal bellows of a throat, that locomotive steam- 
whistle of a voice, that anatomy of pent-up sounds, that staring- 
ribbed dynamite of pure cussedness!" 

Meantime a babble of voices was going on below. 

"Silence!" exclaimed an authoritative voice, whose tones came 
ringing out clear and loud above the din. Then followed: 

"I say up there !" 

No response. 

"You had better answer ; if you do not we will burn the place. 
We know you are there. Do you surrender?" 

"Yes," came the reply. 

''Then throw down your arms to me." And the pistols in re- 
sponse went tumbling through the hole. 

"Now come down yourself." 

In a minute I was standing in the midst of my new-found foes, 
about fifty of them, with an officer. All had their pistols out. 
My captors were Company F, First Pennsylvania Cavalry. 

"Who are you?" 

"Black Horse cavalryman," I hastily answered. 

"What are you doing here?" 

"On a scout; I ran into you unexpectedly, and as my horse 
was broken down I took to my heels and thought myself safe 
enough." 

"No," spoke up a trooper, standing near with a broad grin 
upon his face, "I saw your spurs disappearing through the door." 

"Bad luck to you !" was the reply. "Is this the way you stop 
good Christians going to church to say their prayers?" 

"Mount him on his horse and bring him along," ordered the 
officer; and so the old, detestable animal was pulled forward and 
I was in the saddle once again. Then, with an escort, I made 
what looked like a triumphant entry into Warrenton. 

The prisoners were conducted before the provost marshal, a 
very little man. with a big head filled so full of self-conceit as to 



CAPTURED 453 

leave no room for anything else. Of common sense he seemed 
to be deficient. He frowned as Mars was supposed to do ; he 
strode up and down the tent like Achilles on hearing of the death 
of Patroclus, and interrogated his culprit in a voice he was doing 
his best to render solemn and stern. He assured me I was a 
guerrilla and deserved to be shot, and would be too if he had his 
way. 

We reminded him that for every scout captured there were 
ten of his side ; and there was such a thing known in war as re- 
taliation. 

He broke into a storm of invective, the purport of which was 
that every Rebel found with arms ought to be hanged as high as 
Ham an. 

He was told that Mrs. Leslie's receipt for cooking a hare would 
suit his case — "First catch your hare." 

The little fellow, like the "little pot — soon hot," fairly frothed 
with rage, and too angry for speech motioned the sentry to take 
us to the giiard-house. As we were hurried off the sentinel said : 

"I am glad you treated the little cuss so ; for our soldiers hate 
him worse than poison. He was nothing, nohow, but a bar-keeper 
before the war." 

The next day the prisoners were put on the cars and sent to 
Brandy Station, where I was placed in what was known as the 
*'Bull-Pen," an enclosure of about four acres of bare ground 
around which the tread of the sentry never ceased. 

It was bitter cold ; keen northwest winds rushed hurling across 
the wide, bare plains of Brandy, with no forests to break the force 
of the blast ; it swept on with a dirge and a wail, chilling and 
congealing all Avithin its path. 

We had no blankets and were exposed to the rigor of the 
A\eather; no overcoats, no shelter, no fire, and the situation 
seemed desperate. Moreover, in this pen were confined all the 
riff-rafif and criminals of the Union army. Deserters, soldiers 
confined for murder, waiting the court martial which was to try 
them ; thieves, bounty- jumpers — in short, it was an assemblage 
of rascality which could have been found nowhere else outside of 
the State Prison, and hardly there, so untamed and defiant. 

All during the first night we prisoners saved ourselves from 
freezing only by walking up and down incessantly; and but for 
the kindness of the soft-hearted guards, giving us at intervals cups 
of hot cofifee. we could not have borne the suffering and exposure. 

Such awful curses, profanity and thieves' Latin among the 



454 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

prisoners were probably never heard before by untutored ears. 
The prisoners would have been fearfully maltreated had not Jack, 
a huge Irishman awaiting trial for stabbing and killing the ser- 
geant of his company, proved a benefactor in our hour of need. 
By his prestige as a desperate, reckless fellow he had gained a 
great mastery over the lower, meaner ruffians ; and though he 
might not restrain the full current of curses hurled at us, — an evil 
to which we soon became used and which we did not mind so 
long as we could remain unharmed, — the brutes were afraid to 
proceed to overt acts. Jack had the rations of the Rebels well 
cooked ; he let them cower over his fire, and shared with them at 
night his little shelter-tent. 

All around us were the great hosts in their thousand tents and 
cabins, — some decidedly tasteful. — which filled the immense plain 
as far as the eye could reach. On a bright, clear evening the 
outlook would have been exhilarating to any one but a wretched 
captive. The air was filled with the sound of martial music of the 
brass bands, and the inspiriting blare of the bugles, all sweet 
sounds. The full, well-groomed cavalry horses champed their 
bits, and the refrain of many camp songs came to the listening 
ear. Later on the lights appeared and the wall-tents of the offi- 
cers were illumined by many candles, and from what the guards 
told me I knew the wine was flowing, cigars were burning, and 
the exciting game of draw-poker was in progress. The colonel, the 
major and captain were as comfortable and more contented than 
they would have been at home. I saw the interior of an officer's 
tent with plank flooring carpeted, a hot blazing stove, a thorough 
camp equipage, books and magazines scattered around in pro- 
fusion. A box just opened, full of delicacies, showed that his 
friends had not forgotten him ; and O Shades of Bacchus ! a 
whole line of bottles, ranged around the corner of the room, stood 
like the sentinels around our slushy "bull-pen." The warriors 
of Sardanapalus never lived more luxuriously. The private sol- 
diers too in their winter quarters were more than comfortable, 
they were well housed and comfortably clad. With warm un- 
derclothing and uniform, a thick overcoat with a capacious cape, 
and oilcloth poncho for wet weather, and two great woolly 
blankets, he could bid defiance to every north wind which blows. 
A patent stove warmed his tent or cabin, and novels and news- 
papers served to while away the tedium of camp, or as was gen- 
erally the case, a well-worn pack of cards was on the table. 
His rations vrere so abundant he could not use them. Hard- 



CAPTURED 455 

tack, flour, real coft'ee, sugar, rice, hominy, beans, pork and 
beef hung around in the mess tent, and ambulances were de- 
livering boxes and parcels every hour, containing every luxury 
from friends, and presents from the "Sanitary Commission." 

Billy Yank was comfortable in body and stuffed to the throat 
with the good things of hfe. Certainly fifty per cent, of the men 
were better clothed, better paid and better fed than they were at 
home. 

Besides this, his duties were generally light, especially during 
six months of the year. He was elevated to the position of a 
hero : every daily paper gave him tribute and the illustrated pic- 
torials flattered his self-love. Truly Mr. William Yank, the de- 
fender of the Union, the savior of his country, was a fortunate 
individual with a mind at rest, for he well knew that if he lived 
his future well-being would be the study of a rich and prosperous 
nation. 

And Johnny Reb, his erring brother on the other side — let us 
visit his camp this biting weather and see how he is getting 
on. Enter at random any officer's hut. A flame in a rough fire- 
place lights up the rather dark interior; the officer's sword hang- 
ing from a nail offers the only decoration visible ; an armful of 
pine needles serves for floor carpet ; a rough pine bench to sit on, 
and a couch of pine poles on which is spread a thread-bare blanket 
serves for a resting place by night. Add to this a primitive table 
of a pile of cracker-boxes and — that is all. A dirty, greasy cotton 
bag, ycleped a haversack, is suspended over the fire-place, con- 
taining his daily rations, which consists of a piece of rancid fat 
meat and a double handful of half-ground meal. 

As is his quarters, so are his soldiers', for all fare alike. 
Johnny's clothing is ragged despite the loving attempt at tailor's 
art to make tear and gap meet. Not half of them have an over- 
coat, and not one in five a whole pair of socks. His solitary 
blanket serves him as a coat by day, and covering by night, and 
as this nondescript figure paces his beat, his very bowels yearn 
for loving words from home, and above all for a good square 
meal. 

Outside are the erstwhile war steeds, so thin and attenuated 
that they lean in their weakness against the trees, whose bark 
they have gnawed off in their hunger. A most unsoldier-like 
camp, with no music except the fife, drum, and bugle, the manip- 
ulator of the former having scarcely enough wind in his bony 



456 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

anatomy to fill his instrument; and as for the drummer, he could 
have used his fleshless fists to beat his sheep-skin with. 

Stroll over this encampment on a day when the snow is two 
feet deep on a level, and see Johnny Reb in his poverty. A more 
cheerless, woe-begone, deplorable picture could not be found in 
the broad limits of the land. 

Who can say that the men who bore these harrowing hard- 
ships uncomplainingly were not actuated by an ennobling prin- 
ciple. 

Five or six of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry were brought into 
the pen and lodged with their comrades. Captured as they had 
been at their homes in Fauquier County, it was a bitter change 
from cheerful, happy firesides to those barren acres of desolate 
earth. Their friends, though (sad to relate), were glad to wel- 
come them and Jack extended his wing over each. For one 
whole week, while we remained there, he saved us all from being- 
frozen or kicked to death. He had a soft spot in his heart for 
poor humanity even though he had been handy with his knife. 
All that we knew or cared to know was, that he stood by those 
miserable, shivering, cowering prisoners to the last, and shook 
their hands with a hearty grasp as he told them good-by. 

"Take care of yourselves, boys," were his parting words, "and 
may no harm come to you at all, at all." 

The squad of prisoners, numbering some twenty, were placed 
on the cars and sent to Washington. Arriving there we were 
marched along the street, attracting much attention on the route, 
and followed by a crowd. Up Maryland Avenue, thence to 
Pennsylvania Avenue, from which we turned off toward the left, 
and approached a solid, square-looking building standing on the 
corner, and there we halted. Sentinels were pacing the pave- 
ment in front; the windows were barred with iron, through 
which there glowered and glared scores of faces ; while from the 
open door a cry went up from the inmates : 

"Fresh fish! Fresh fish !" 

The building was the old Capitol Prison ; its lodgers were 
Rebel prisoners, and the new arrivals were the individuals intro- 
duced to its walls as "Fish." 

In a few moments we were ushered into the presence of Colo- 
nel Wood. 

Our names, companies, and regiments were taken, we were then 
tlioroughly searched, as if it were customary for private soldiers 
to carry their gold watches, diamonds, breastpins, and bonds into 



CAPTURED 457 

battle. It is needless to say that nothing' worth having came 
of that inquiry ; not a cent was found in those pockets. 

We were next placed in our different quarters, and no sooner 
had the door closed than we were surrounded by a crowd of pris- 
oners eagerly asking the latest news from Dixie. 

For hours the new arrivals were engaged in answering in- 
quiries of the interested, each of whom had a hundred questions 
to ask, and not until late that evening did we get a chance to 
retire and give our wearied jaws a rest. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE FIRST ESCAPK. 

The old Capitol Prison was in ante-bellum days a fine, large, 
solid structure of granite, situated back of the new Capitol of the 
Nation. It was used as a rendezvous for the captured, who there 
remained until its apartments overflowed, when the garnered 
Rebel material was discharged into the various entrenched camps 
for prisoners, such as Point Lookout, Elmira and other forts. 

The rooms were large, well ventilated, very comfortably 
heated by open grates at each end, and never seemed to want 
occupants. Around the sides of the room were bunks, each 
room accommodating as many as sixty prisoners. The dining- 
room was a large, low apartment, with a table running its entire 
length. The fare was ample and wholesome, much better indeed 
than Dixie could afford to give her troops. Those who had 
friends North lived luxuriously, for all boxes and bundles were 
promptly delivered to the ones whose names they bore; while visi- 
tors were allowed to see the inmates of tlie prison once a week in 
the colonel's office. 

Each man was left to follow at will the devices of his fancy, 
provided of course his wishes did not include a saunter up the 
Avenue or a stroll into the park just across the way. So, bar- 
ring the restraints of captivity, the prisoners had nothing of 
which to complain. 

Yet it was not a hopeful outlook that the future gave. That 
all exchange of prisoners was ended was patent to all. The tone 
of the Northern papers showed that it would be the policy of their 
Government, as a war measure, not to exchange. It was a bitter 
thing to look forward to, that of being caged like so many wild 
beasts compelled to remain passive while the great struggle was 
going on around ; neither to suffer with comrades the reverses 
of war nor enjoy the fruits of future triumphs; never more to 
feel the color tingling in the cheek at the sound of the bugle, nor 
know the mad enthusiasm of the charging line ; to realize with a 
deep sinking of the heart that while the prisoner's name is not 
scratched from the rolls, his place is filled as is that of the dead 
comrade ; to know that the hour of a Commonwealth's greatest 
peril is at hand, and that in her defense one arm is idle which fain 



THE FIRST ESCAPE 459 

would strike a blow. For Northerner or Southerner the drag- 
ging out of a prison life was grievous enough to bear. It is not 
hard to understand that, and many held death a preferable fate. 

So communing, I determined to attempt an escape at all 
hazards, and at once set my brains to work to discover if possible 
the ways and means of accomplishing that purpose. 

The prison was closely guarded, with a sentinel at each door. 
Every passage and the pavement outside was patrolled day and 
night. No one was allowed to be in the passage except the ofifi- 
cer of the day. No prisoner was permitted to leave the room 
without being accompanied by a sentry. They were all marched 
to meals in line and rigorously guarded the while. Every eve- 
ning they were sent to the open yard for exercise, but the en- 
closure was surrounded by a high wall, on the top of which senti- 
nels paced with loaded muskets, watching everything that took place 
below. 

There was absolutely no chance then to slip away by any of 
these avenues of escape, and so I finally determined that the only 
practical method was to file asunder the window bars and drop 
into the street, running the risk of being shot by the guard be- 
neath. 

I immediately commenced to work out my plan, the only one 
which presented the faintest chance of success; and yet it was 
full of difficulty. The bars were of forged iron at least an inch 
and a half in diameter; and as they were about six inches apart, 
it would be necessar}?^ to file two before space enough could be 
obtained to admit the egress of a body. There were no tools to 
begin with ; then, too, the work would have to be performed un- 
perceived by the sixty men who inhabited the room, for in 
every one of these apartments was placed a spy, generally some 
recreant, traitorous Southern soldier, whose business it was to 
watch and report attempts of the kind to the authorities. As a 
matter of course all concerned in such plots were severely pun- 
ished. Then again, if those obstacles should have been success- 
fully overcome, there still remained the need of escaping the ob- 
servation of four sentries patrolling the pavement beneath, who 
had orders to shoot without halting any Rebel prisoner seen outside 
the building. 

Yet my mind had become only more determined to accom- 
plish the task. Jack Shepherd, I reasoned, had taken French 
leave of Newgate with fifty times these odds; and Baron Trenck 
had twice escaped from the iron prison at Gatz, when the whole 



460 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

g-arrison had orders from the stern Frederick to watch him with 
sleepless eyes. So taking heart I commenced by abstracting 
from the supper table that night, despite the watchfulness of the 
guards, two of the knives, which I hacked one against the other 
so as to make respectable saws. Then 1 retired early and slept 
until three o'clock in the morning, at which hour I rose and gazed 
around. It was just the time when slumber most weighs down 
the weary eye-lids and sleep resembles death. The whole room 
was as silent as the graveyard ; while from the open grates there 
smouldered the coal fires like dull yet watchful eyes, which only 
deepened the gloom of the surrounding shadows. 

Cautiously the work was commenced ; the knives were thickly 
covered with grease, which deadened the sound. Below paced 
the sentinel, all unconscious of the work going on so close to him. 
The window was on the first fioor, and when he walked in front 
of it the sawing ceased ; when he passed it recommenced. Two 
hours' hard work and the iron bar was about a quarter through, 
then the dawning of day brought the task to an end. Filling the 
crevice with grease and soot to hide all traces, I betook myself to 
my couch, or rather plank. 

In a week's time, by hard and unremitting labor, and with man\' 
narrow escapes from detection, the task was accomplished. The 
two iron bars were ready to fall apart, held up as it were by a 
thread, needing only a violent wrench to loosen them, and the 
way was clear. I only waited a dark night to make the trial. 

The morning of the day arrived at last which I determined 
should either be my last in prison or my last on earth. A bitter 
cold, dark day, with thick clouds sweeping over the sky and the 
wind blowing a hurricane. Slowly enough the hours went, the 
hours indeed of« the final day in prison. 

But not as I had planned. The commandant entered the room 
and ordered all the prisoners to be ready to start immediately 
after an early dinner for Point Lookout. 

They say nothing is wasted in this world, but I felt that those 
long hours of night work was an exception. My patient labors 
useless. Well ! the wild dream of liberty was over ; and the first 
impulse was to bow to an unrelenting destiny and struggle no 
more. 

Climbing- into my bunk I thought over the situation. Upon 
one thing I made up my mind, that death was preferable to a 
long, unknown and lingering captivity at Point Lookout. I had 
heard appalling tales of this prison, of the negro sentinels. Ah! 



the; first escape: 461 

that was where it touched me, those negro guards. The humiHa- 
tion and degradation of being under charge of those black men 
nerved me to a degree of resistance which was ready to brave a 
thousand deaths rather than submit. 

I had a citizen suit sent me by friends in Alexandria, Virginia, 
and I determined to wear it over my uniform. 

In the afternoon the crowd of prisoners, some four hundred in 
all, w^ere formed into ranks on the street fronting the prison, the 
line extending a couple of squares. They were to walk four 
abreast with guards on either side at intervals of about eight 
feet apart. Orders were then read forbidding" the men to move 
or slip out of place, under penalty of being bayoneted on the 
spot. 

Everything being in readiness, the long column commenced its 
journe}^ ; not having any music to march by, the Rebels deter- 
mined to improvise some for themselves. In a little while Dixie, 
that forbidden tune, was ringing out loud and clear on the loyal 
air, shouted lustily from four hundred throats. That unwonted 
.strain filled the streets, causing many hearts to throb with wild 
excitement. Windows were lifted, doors throw-n open, and in 
an instant the thoroughfares were thronged by curious citizens, 
\\lio listened wonderingly to the air as dear to Rebel hearts as the 
dire refrain of "Ca Ira" to the Jacobins of Faubourg St. Antoine. 
The guards, however, soon stopped our music. I did not join in 
the strain, I was far too highly wrought up ; none but the tenor of 
the grand opera sings when he is about to play a game of which 
annihilation is the forfeit. 

My idea was to jump into the first open door and make my way 
through the house and out at the back door. 

No poor, hunted fox, hard pressed by hounds, e\'er looked more 
eagerly for a hole or opening through which to dive. 

But in vain my eyes searched every quarter ; the doors were 
either closed or blocked by people watching the procession. 

I was becoming desperate. Then the thought struck me to 
strike the guard and make a rush. 

But that was impracticable: for even had I succeeded in escap- 
ing the guard, the people who lined the pavement as spectators 
would have stopped me and one bayonet thrust ended the matter. 

By this time the column, moving steadily on, was nearing the 
wharf. If anything was to be done at all it must be done then. 
I was on the pavement ; groups of people stood close to the 
houses to allow the line to pass. There were three citizens within 



462 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

two or three steps of me. W'lieeling suddenly by the moving- 
guard, who brought down his musket, I pulled myself together 
and exclaimed in a tone of assumed indignation: 

"These d Rebels will run over me!" 

The guard half halted, but my citizen's dress met his eyes; and 
besides the guard behind him was treading on his heels, so he kept 
on, and I was free, but not safe ; the citizens saw the ruse ; but 
very disloyal they must have been, for they did not betray me, 
they only grew pale and hurried away, leaving me alone on the 
sidewalk. 

It was worse than having to stand a shelling from a battery of 
guns, to remain there watching the long line which passed, see 
the familiar faces of comrades, who, true as steel, uttered no ex- 
clamation of surprise, only the significant flash of the eye show- 
ing a full appreciation of the situation. 

It was a strange experience for a Confederate soldier to be 
walking there unmolested amid the surging crowd of the Avenue, 
jostling against the blue-coats, who never deigned so much as 
a glance ; and for an hour or two I sauntered up and down the 
street or lingered in the lobbies of the hotels, enjoying the nov- 
elty of the surroundings, and feeling as independent as a suc- 
cessful sutler. 

As the evening wore away the necessity of making some plans 
for the future became more and more apparent. The first idea 
which came to me was to select a horse from the scores that were 
hitched along the Avenue, and make a bold rush for Virginia. 
But second thoughts showed the futility of such an attempt. 
The city was encircled by a cordon of guards, and without money 
or passport, detection and arrest would prove certain ; so I 
concluded that the wisest and only possible way was to apply for 
money to a man whom I knew to be a Southern sympathizer, then 
go to Baltimore, and making a detour, cross the Potomac high up 
in Maryland. 

A few squares and I stood before the entrance to the dwelling of 
this gentleman, Mr. William Selden, my uncle-in-law, who was 
Marshal of the District under Buchanan, and a strong Southern 
sympathizer, and whose eldest son. John Selden, was a famous sol- 
dier in Lee's army. 

A hurried knock and I was admitted into the parlor. Both 
the master and mistress appeared ; and my tale was no sooner 
told than I was taken in their arms and into their hearts. 

A hot dinner was placed before me, a valise of clothing given 



THE FIRST ESCAPE 463 

me and a roll of greenbacks stuffed into my pockets; then, with 
a cigar in my mouth, I sat back in a hack with the most insouciant 
air it was possible to assume, and was driven to the Baltimore 
and Ohio Depot. 

I could not help reflecting on the ups and downs of a soldier's 
life. This time yesterday I was eating from a tin plate a loaf 
of dry bread, drinking coffee from a battered tin cup, surrovmded 
by a crew of ragged men, and those confounded guards watching 
every mouthful: and now — \A'ell ! I felt that life was amply 
worth the living. 

Reaching the depot, I watched my chance, and as a sudden rush 
was made I managed to slip by the guard at the door, whose 
duty it was to demand passports. Soon the whistle sounded ; 
the bell rang; the conductor shouted "All aboard!" the train 
gave a sudden jerk; then the telegraph poles danced by as if en- 
gaged in a mad, wild reel. 

A couple of hours later found me seated at Barnum's Hotel table. 
1 called for champagne, drank under breath a number of disloyal 
toasts, and paid the waiter with the air of a prince. 

Later on I went to the theatre. "The Taming of the Shrev^" 
was the attraction, with Seymour in the leading role. It was the 
first Shakespearian play I had seen for years. Then I went to a 
fashionable down-town restaurant and made the money fly. Nor 
is it needful to add I did not sleep on the hard planks of the bunks 
that night, though as I sank into the yielding, soft bed I had to 
pinch myself to be convinced that it was no dream. 

It may have been the unaccustomed luxury of the feather bed, 
or excitement, or both combined — I could not sleep. I felt ex- 
actly as did Christopher Sly the tinker, when he went to sleep on the 
ale-house floor, and found himself when he awoke on a silken- 
curtained couch, and he exclaimed, "What! would you make me 
mad? Ask Marion Hackett, the fat ale-wife of Wincot, if she 
knows me not?'' 

And again and again I thought of Christopher Sly's words : 
"This is an excellent piece of work, would 'twere well ended." 

A good breakfast, then I strolled down to the depot to make 
inquiries, determined to leave the next morning for Frederick 
City, and cross the Potomac near that point. I would have liked 
to remain longer, but the money was nearly gone; in truth, after 
paying hotel bills and my passage on the cars to Frederick City, 
not a ragged five-cent stamp would be left to recall the dismal 
story of boyish thoughtlessness. 



464 JOHNNY REB AND BILI.Y YANK 

The next morning- I walked to the depot and found to my dis- 
may that I was too late ; the cars had left a half hour before, and 
there was no other train that day. 

Here I was alone in a strange city, knowing no soul, and 
without money. My whole fortune consisted of one dollar and 
fifty cents. Count it as I would, it made no more. Turn my 
pockets inside out as I might, no vagrant note was found lurking 
in the folds. Call myself an addle-pated fool as often as I 
pleased, and repent as sorely as the prodigal son, it did no good ; 
so I wandered up and down Baltimore Street all that day, spend- 
ing the last of my little store for dinner. Then I felt like Jonah 
after he had been swallowed by the whale, that there was plenty 
of room to move about in, but that the future was confoundedly 
uncertain. 

As the evening drew near I was at my wit's end. Stop the 
first citizen and tell him a piteous tale, trusting to luck in strik- 
ing a Secessionist instead of a Unionist? The risk was too great 
and might lead to my being handed to the first convenient police- 
man, and then Fort McHenry was not very far off. But something- 
had to be done. The night was drawing near ; the wind was 
sweeping around the corners and up and down the thoroughfares 
with a chilling touch. The lamps were being lighted in one 
home after another, while the warm glow of the household fires 
shone with mocking brightness before my longing eyes. In- 
tensely Southern as were the mass of Baltimoreans, how many 
doors would have opened by magic could they have known. 

At last I reached the point where some risk had to be run, for 
it was impossible to wander through the streets all night. I de- 
termined to go where the largest mansions were found, ring the 
bell of the most imposing dwelling, ask to see the owner of the 
house, tell him who I was and what I wanted ; and then if I per- 
ceived his sympathies were not forthcoming, to trust to my heels 
for safety and make another trial. 

The first attempt daunted my hopes utterly. Going up a wide 
flight of marble steps I timidly rang the door-bell and waited the 
result. The door was opened by a stately old servant: 

"Is the master in?" 

"Yes'r, walk in the parlor." 

"No, tell him I would like to speak to him at the door." 

Away hied the man, and in a few seconds an elderly gentleman 
came and peered out distrustfully. 



THE FIRST ESCAPE 465 

''What do you want?" he inquired through the half-opened 
door. 

"Why, sir," stammered I, not knowing what to say, "I want to 
know whether your sympathies are on the side of the North or 
the South." 

"That's none of your business !" was the curt rejoinder, and 
the door was slammed in my face, then locked and bolted; leav- 
ing me staring like a fool into space. 

I relinquished this plan as a decidedly unsatisfactory one, and 
went wandering down the street disconsolately, when suddenly 
I sprang forward and accosted a gentleman who happened to be 
standing within a doorway. 

"I think, sir, I have met you in Richmond." 

He quickly replied, "You came by flag of truce, did you not?" 

"I would like to have a few moments' conversation with you," 
T said. 

"For what?" 

"Just to ask if your sympathies are with the South." 

"Undoubtedly; but what are your reasons for asking?" 

"Simply because I am an escaped prisoner from the Old Capi- 
tol, who has no money nor friends, and know not where to turn 
or what to do. If you are a Unionist I ask you not to betray 
me." 

The gentleman answered not a word, but beckoned me to fol- 
low him into the house, carefully shutting the door as he ushered 
me in to the parlor; then, motioning to a seat, he asked to be 
told the facts of the case, which soon convinced him of the truth 
of the appeal. He called in his wife and sisters, who listened 
breathlessly to the recital of my adventures, and gave me a warm 
and cordial reception. Not only this, but a notice was sent out to 
some friends and kindred spirits and soon the room was filled 
with disloyal ladies, who kept the new-found Rebel talking till long 
past midnight. 

"It was worth all the suffering," I thought, "when such 
charming women smiled upon me ; it was the dream of the sol- 
dier realized at last." 

The host, Mr. McGee, was at one time in the Army of North- 
ern Virginia, but his health utterly failing him he was discharged 
and returned home. It was a strange coincidence, our meeting; 
and I determined to hold full faith hereafter in my luck. 

A purse sufficient to meet all exigencies was made up b}- the 
company. 
30 



466 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

That night as I sank to sleep on "downy feathers'' it was with 
a happy beHef that all hardships were over, and that soon enough 
my feet would tread the soil of Old Virginia. Could I have seen 
with prophetic eye through what I would be called upon to pass 
ere I should see comrades and home again, sleep would have been 
banished from my eyelids. Ignorance was indeed bliss that 
night. 

After an early breakfast I was driven in a private carriage to 
the depot. I carried sixty-six dollars in greenbacks in my 
pockets. With no feigned gratitude I parted from the friend 
who had fed and sheltered me and sent me on my way rejoicing, 
and that, too, at his own great risk. Had he been deceived or be- 
trayed he must have suffered for his charity by an extended in- 
carceration in some military prison. 



CHAPTER XL 

CROSSING THE POTOMAC ON A RAFT. 

A short ride and I reached Washington Station, from which 
place I took horse-cars for Frederick City, five miles distant. 
When nearly there an infantryman entered, note-book in hand. 
At first I mistook him for a baggage agent ; but instead of want- 
ing to check my trunk, his object was to check me if he could. 
He noted the name of every passenger; who they were; how 
long they intended to stay ; their destination ; their business, 
etc. Now if I had told the tmth I would have been marched 
oiT in the twinkling of an eye; even the embryo Father of his 
Country would have prevaricated in a case like this; so I assured 
him that I had been born in Frederick City, raised there, lived 
there all my life, and had never left there except in this instance, 
when I had run over to Baltimore to see the sights, and was just 
returning. 

"Where is your pass?" 

"O, I left it at home ; everybody knows me here." 

"Then report at the provost marshal's immediately on your 
arrival," was the curt rejoinder. 

Now I had a constitutional and natural antipathy to that par- 
ticular class of officers, and would rather charge a battery any day 
than be interrogated by them or be asked to grant the little re- 
c[uest with which so many poor pri^'ates found it impossible to 
comply — 

"Show your passports." 

Hence I told him that if he would examine the provost's books 
he would discover my name already registered. 

This seemed to satisfy him, for he answered "xA.ll right," took 
down my name and passed on to the next passenger, 

A devilish close shave, I thought. 

Reaching the town I proceeded to the hotel and registered a 
fictitious name, giving my residence as Hagerstown, Maryland ; 
and after a hearty dinner went down the street to buy several 
little articles which I desired to carry back South. The most im- 
portant purchase was a pair of spurs, for which I hoped to have 
pressing need before the night ended. 

In the evening I called upon two Southern sympathizers whose 



468 JOHNNY RHB AND BILI^Y YANK 

names had been given me in Baltimore, and whose patriotism 
was cheap, resembHng those very low-priced prints warranted 
fast, yet which never wash without fading. They were afraid to 
talk, declined even to give advice as to the best way to cross the 
Potomac, and actually refused to furnish any information with 
regard to the routes and roads to the fords. I unbosomed my 
mind, and used no measured terms or epithets either, then left, 
thinking an honest foe better than a cowardly sympathizer. 

In the evening I walked the streets for hours, having concluded 
the safest thing would be to mount the first army horse I could 
find and strike for some upper ford in the river ; but there were 
no such horses to be seen. The property of citizens I respected 
too much to touch, though a year later I would have been less 
conscientious in such an emergency. 

In wretchedly low spirits I left town. It was about ten o'clock 
and very dark. I had intended crossing the river at Wright's 
Ford, which a negro had informed me was the nearest crossing 
place, but in the obscurity of the night I lost the way and wan- 
dered only God knows where. For hours, through swamps, 
woods, fields, and meadows I stumbled ; falHng into deep holes, 
scrambling out as best I could ; feeling my way out of forests, 
and forcing a path through briers, until I was nearly dead from ex- 
haustion. My clothes were torn, face scratched, hands bleeding. 
Finally, after having struggled and strayed nearly all night I 
struck a road, and following it up came to a small house, whose 
owner I roused by a sturdy knocking at the door. 

He soon appeared, light in hand. I had my tale cut and dried 
and informed him I had an uncle on the other side of the Potomac 
who was expected to die, and it was of the utmost importance I 
should get across the river at once. He directed me to follow 
the road running near the house for about twelve miles farther 
on, to a large brick edifice called <^reenleaf's Mill, the owner of 
which could put me in a way to cross. It was still dark and very 
hard to keep the road, but soon day broke ; the sun rose and I 
pushed forward with vigor. 

The owner of Greenleaf's Mill proved to be a good friend in- 
deed to the cause. He gave its needy representative a good hot 
breakfast, and let me sleep undisturbed in the house all the long 
day until five o'clock in the evening. Then after a hearty supper 
his guest stood ready to follow out the enterprise. 

The miller was afraid to give any advice, for he said if trouble 
should come he did not want to think it would be attributable to 



CROSSING THE POTOMAC ON A RAFT 469 

counsel of his. He declared he could not believe my story, since 
United States detectives had been lately roaming through that 
immediate section, passing themselves oft' as escaped Rebel pris- 
oners, appealing to the sympathies of the people, and using 
every cunning device to make them commit themselves. If suc- 
cessful their beguiled victims were immediately arrested, and 
either forced to take the oath of allegiance or suffer a long impris- 
onment. Consequently all entreaties could only induce the cau- 
tious miller to give his departing guest the name of but one Seces- 
sionist who lived four miles farther on. 

I commenced walking, and in an hour reached the designated 
house. The owner was absent but his wife civilly invited me in. 
She was evidently suspicious and thought her visitor exactly what 
he was not. Her husband, she said, had gone to a horse-race 
and would not l^e back for hours. They were honest, industrious 
people, she informed me, and "good Union folks, too," she took 
the trouble to add. 

The worthy woman tried her best to carry out the role, and 
made her bright, interesting little daughter of some twelve sum- 
mers sing for the edification of the supposed detective, "Just before 
the battle, mother," and the "Star Spangled Banner." 

Finding the hostess and her husband were Irish, I revealed my 
secret, but the revelation had only the eff'ect of adding "Hail 
Columbia" and "We'll hang Jeflf Davis to a sour apple-tree" 
to the already loyal repertoire. 

So the time passed listening to these patriotic ditties and other 
Union sentiments, when sure enough, about ten o'clock, the hus- 
band returned from the race, singing in the joy of his heart "The 
Sprig of Shamrock ;" and if the truth must be told, as tight as 
a brick. His w'lie introduced the stranger as a Confederate sol- 
dier escaped from Washington, at the same time by sundry winks 
and signs trying to make him understand it were well to be on 
his guard. But a wink is no better than a nod to a blind horse. 
Whatever acumen the lord of her bosom was apt to evince in 
general, verily he had none then which liquor had not deadened, 
for all his natural feelings bubbled up. Grasping the hands of his 
guest with real Hibernian warmth, he bade me welcome, and 
more than welcome; nay, the whole house was mine. He loved 
the gray, bedad : he had a son in the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry, 
as fine a sprig of a boy as ever breathed the breath of life ; and 
he did not care a darn who knew it. 

This frank avowal thoroughly frightened the more politic wife. 



470 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

who began to make hurried and nervous excuses, declaring he 
was drunk and did not know what he was talking about. But 
her smaller half broke in impetuously upon this caution with the 
remark that the pride of his life was that his only boy was a 
Rebel and in the Southern Army, and he'd be there himself^ 
bedad, if he wasn't so old. This assertion left the wife not a 
single plank to stand upon, and she did what a woman generally 
does under such circumstances, burst into tears. 

We hastened to assure her that her alarm was groundless, that 
we would be as loath to meet a Yankee detective at this moment 
as we would his Satanic Majesty himself. I showed my gray 
jacket, and by a little reasoning convinced her that so far from 
being the loyal spy she thought, I was an honest Rebel soldier 
whose sole desire was to get over the river with all possible speed. 
The tears were dried, the songs renewed, but this time they were 
"Dixie" and the "Bonnie Blue Flag," sung too by the same in- 
nocent lips which but an hour ago caroled immaculate Union 
ones. This only proves, however, that circumstances alter cases ; 
and that women are born actresses and can rise to the level of all 
emergencies. 

The jovial host opened several bottles of home-made wine and 
insisted on drinking toasts illustrative of his feelings, and that, 
too, so continuously that midnight found me still passing what 
Mr. Swiveller would call the "rosy." On retiring to rest he 
brought me an ancient sword of the size, shape and general ap- 
pearance of a scythe blade, which hung up over the bed, so in case 
of a morning foray the old war relic might prove handy. 

It was a terrible weapon according to our host, and had com- 
mitted great execution in the hands of his grandfather in the 
great Irish rebellion of '98. With it near no one would dare at- 
tack, and before harm could come to me it would be necessary to 
cross over his dead body ; and then he bade me good-night, or 
rather good-morning, and retired. 

After a few hours' sleep and a hearty meal I was ready for any- 
thing. A neighbor had dropped in, who heard the story and 
gave in return the benefit of his advice. There was a certain 
negro, living not far away on the banks, who would ferry me over 
the river for ten dollars, and it would be as well and safest to 
avail myself of his services. 

Not content with showing so much kindness, the true-hearted 
entertainer insisted on going a part of the way and pointing out 
the different fords. We went first to the Aqueduct on the Mo- 



CROSSING THE POTOMAC ON A RAFT 4/1 

nocacy Creek, but found it heavily guarded. No persons were 
allowed to pass save those with passports from the provost. 

Nothing now remained but to wade across the run, so making 
a detour of a mile or so, I rolled up my pants to attempt it. 

"So soon as you get across," said the Irish friend, "go to the 
village near by called Slicksville, and buy ten yards of rope and 
a hatchet, and if you can't find the darky with a squint in his 
eye, to row you over, build a raft and paddle across in that way." 

Shaking him warmly by the hand I started to cross the creek, 
which emptied into the river at right angles. The water was at 
freezing point and about four feet deep ; it was necessary to wade 
nearly a hundred yards to gain the opposite shore. I emerged 
blue and numbed with cold. As I turned to take a parting look, 
there stood the kind-hearted fellow waving his handkerchief in a 
last token of farewell. A noble heart beat in that man's bosom. 

On my way to Slicksville I met a farmer, who infc^rmed me that 
he had just left the village and that there were two detectives in 
the place. Knowing that certain capture would ensue should I 
venture near, I branched ol¥ the road leading there, and striking 
the towpath of the canal, walked heedlessly along, not knowing 
what next to do or where to go. The canal was parallel with the 
river, in fact on its very brink; but it had been constructed on the 
crest of the hill, while the river rushed along at the bottom some 
seventy feet below. Keeping on, I came across an abandoned 
canal l3oat which lay in the dry bed of the stately old ditch, whose 
v^aters had been turned off since the beginning of the w^ar. The 
craft had been deserted of course, and by a happy inspiration the 
idea flashed across my mind that out of the idle timbers a raft 
might be constructed upon which to cross the river. 

Before starting to work I scouted around to find if there were 
any enemies near. I learned that the nearest picket was at Mo- 
nocacy about a mile below, where there was a block-house, gar- 
risoned by a command called Scott's Nine Hundred, who, if the 
citizens of the vicinity were to be believed, w^ere as arrant a set of 
thieves as ever plundered a hen roost or stole linen from a hedge. 

About five o'clock that cold evening, February the seventh, 
1864, I commenced constructing the raft. The canal boat had 
been moored at the time it had been abandoned, and fastened to 
stakes driven down in either bank, by two large ropes, one at the 
bow and the other at the stem. The ropes were the very things 
that were needed, but then T had no knife with w^hich to cut 
them. However, I was not to be deterred by such a trifle as that. 



4/2 JOHNNY REB AND BILI^Y YANK 

even if 1 had been obliged to emulate the example of the rats and 
gnaw them in two — 3'es, though they had been cables three 
inches in diameter I was bound to have those ropes at all costs; 
so I hunted around and found a treasure in a piece of an old rusty 
iron hoop, which being broken in sections and sharpened on a 
stone made a knife that answered every purpose. With it both 
lines were cut, and with cold, stiffened fingers I set to work 
to unravel them. This consumed about an hour, and then I 
found myself in possession of six small inch ropes about fifteen 
feet long, or nearly thirty yards altogether, more than enough to 
bind the largest raft. 

It was night when this work was done ; it was stinging cold 
and I had neither overcoat nor blanket. 

The next step was to construct a bridge from the boat to the 
tow-path, which was accomplished by placing in the bottom of the 
canal, about six feet apart, the two high stools or wooden horses 
(as they are called) on the boat, on which rested planks and 
beams. Thus was formed an easy transit from the craft to the 
path, obviating the necessity of jumping down to the bed of the 
canal and then climbing up the bank every time a move was made 
from one to the other. 

The bridge having been finished, I concluded from very weari- 
ness to postpone further operations until morning. So descend- 
ing into the deserted cabin, a little, close hole about the size of a 
big dry-goods box, and groping about in the dark to find some 
place in which to sleep, I finally climbed into a bunk. 

There I encountered an old mattress about as soft and pliable 
as sheet iron, and a quantity of rags which might have been a 
quilt or coverlid before the fiood. The smell of it ! Pau ! it took 
the breath away. I jumped out in a hurry and went on deck; 
there the bitter, icy wind was sweeping, and I had either to freeze 
or return to yon combination of foul odors which would have 
done credit to a patent phosphate fertilizing factory on a hot 
summer day. I chose the latter, went back and laid down on the 
mattress, and got under the filthy rags, and with hands clasped 
tightly over my face, thought of damask roses and the spices of 
Araby. 

At the dawn of day I awoke, and going out on deck breathed 
the pure air once more. I commenced work with a will. Tear- 
ing the large wooden covers off the apertures in the deck, and 
carrying them across the improvised bridge to the bank, they 
were pitched down the steep slope to the river edge. A quantity 



CROSSING THE POTOMAC ON A RAFT 4/3 

of loose planks were lying around, as well as nails, so that by fore- 
noon there was a large pile of lumber collected. Several times 
during the morning I came within an ace of being caught. 
Once I was just about to hammer out some nails from a piece of 
timber on the shore, when by a sort of uncontrollable impulse I 
stopped and crept up the bank. On reaching the top I had 
hardly time to conceal myself before half a dozen blue-coats passed 
along the tow-path, so close indeed that I could have touched them 
with outstretched hand. 

About ten o'clock the raft was finished which was to bear me 
across the water, fortune as dear to me as Caesar's to himself 
and country. I determined to start at once. Grasping the im- 
provised paddle I was about to mafle off, when several citizens 
riding by on the tow-path above saw me, and jumping from their 
horses pulled the raft back. 

I indignantly asked what was meant. 

One of the citizens replied that the canal boat belonged to him, 
and he wanted to know who I was, where I was going, and by 
what right I proposed helping myself to his lumber. 

It was useless to attempt to deceive him, caught flagrante delicto, 
so I made a virtue of necessity, owned the truth and asked for help. 

"No, sir!" he said, "I am a loyal man; I can not help you, but 
I won't betray you. My advice is that you go to the nearest gar- 
rison, give yourself up and take the oath of allegiance." 

My only reply was a bitter curse, which could not have been 
mistaken as otherwise than a most emphatic denial. 

"Well, anyhow," he resumed, "I can not let this raft go ; there's 
fully twenty-five dollars' worth of timber here." 

"Well," said I, "if you set the liberty and happiness of a fellow- 
man against the sum of twenty-five dollars there is nothing more 
to be said. I never overrated myself, but I hoped that I could 
bring more than that sum. Here is your twenty-five dollars, 
every cent I have in the world ; take it ; but I am going to cross 
the river to-night if I have to swim." 

This seemed to touch his companions, who demurred against 
his accepting the money, so he refused the proffer, and said with 
further generosity: 

"You may have the plank, but if you try to cross before dark 
you will be killed to a certainty; for as soon as you reach the 
middle of the stream you will be in musket-range of our soldiers 
and they will pick you off as they would a wild duck floating on 
the water." 



474 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

This struck me as being a solemn fact, and fortunate indeed it 
was that he had come up on the moment of departure and pre- 
vented the maddest step that could have been taken. 

"You can try it if you are bent upon it, but take my advice and 
don't make the attempt until dark," still urged the owner of the 
raft as the party remounted and rode ofif. 

There were yet several hours of light, so after a mental consulta- 
tion I thdught I had better lie low even though I was fighting- 
hungry. I went within the cabin and fastened the door, intend- 
ing to get some sleep, but in a short time was aroused by some 
one trying to effect an entrance. I was on my feet in a second 
and as quick as thought had squeezed through the stern window, 
about twelve inches square (but then I was thin, very thin), and 
climbed the bank. I then found the intruder was a young coun- 
try fellow, a coarse-looking rustic, who being gifted with an in- 
quiring mind was on a voyage of discovery. Leaving him to 
pursue his investigations undisturbed, I walked leisurely up the 
path, intending to return when his labors were ended and his 
departure taken. I had not proceeded far, when hearing a noise 
in the rear, I looked and beheld two Yankee cavalrymen riding 
down the path at a gallop. 

''The game is up !" I thought. 

But no, they approached with a rush, with no thought of draw- 
ing rein. We cheered them as they passed, for they were only 
trying their horses in a little private scrub-race. 

"Surely," thought I, "after so many narrow escapes and provi- 
dential interposition my efforts must be crowned with success." 
I fell to discussing the chances for and against my ultimate good 
fortune. I thought of the French philosopher who, being in a 
maze of doubt regarding the immortality of the soul, and wander- 
ing a labyrinth of speculation, determined to solve the question 
by a method altogether unique in ethics. He prepared to throw 
a stone at a tree; "If I strike, I believe; if I miss, I'm eternally a 
skeptic." So he fired away, struck, and had an easy conscience 
and a firm faith ever afterwards. 

This determined me to try my fortune by the same novel yet 
decisive mode for consolation — my faith was below par then. 
The chances against success were heavy ; the danger close. So 
I chose a tree and selected a stone. 

"If I strike that tree, I will some day reach Virginia safe and 
sound ; if I miss it, then either captivity or death will be my 
portion." 



CROSSING THE POTOMAC ON A RAFT 475 

Taking off my jacket, and looking straight at the trunk of the 
lordly oak some twenty paces of¥, I drew back with every muscle 
braced and stood ready to cast the die. Surely little David, 
when he put the pebble in the sling to hurl at big Goliath, never 
felt more acutely or eagerly the momentous results depending 
upon the flight of the stone. The rock sailed through the air, 
and the tree was struck plumb in the center. 

As apparently trivial, childish as this act was, it Instilled in 
my mind a profound conviction of ultimate success ; a confidence 
so firm that even in the darkest hour, and amid all scenes, sur- 
rounded by lines of steel, environed by massive walls of granite, 
my faith remained staunch and firm. By constant brooding upon 
the subject I felt as w^ould the warriors of ancient Greece had they 
heard the decrees of fate pronounced by the Oracle itself. 

Many, many times, when suffering the pangs of hunger and 
cold ; when ill-treated and trodden on ; when life itself became 
a thing of no value; when despair stood ready to counsel apa- 
thetic submission to an apparently irresistible destiny, did the 
memory of that tree-test come back, and nerve the almost help- 
less heart to stern endurance and greater efforts. It was super- 
stition, yes, but a superstition wdiose faith was as strong as that 
of religion's ; a superstition whose power was potent for all 
good. 

At last the sun went down and the gray shades of evening fell 
upon the scene, dimming all views, merging all objects and colors 
into one dull, opaque mass. 

Untying the raft I stepped in and shoved oft'. It was about 
ten feet square, and bore the burden well. It progressed 
swimmingly until it reached the current twenty yards from 
shore. The river, about two hundred yards wide at this point, 
was running like a mill race. The water foamed and bubbled, 
speeding down with a seething rush and roar. The current 
caught the broad, unwieldy craft and sported with it at its own 
wild pleasure ; spun it around and round despite my frantic ef- 
forts to guide it. It shot suddenly forward, then became en- 
tangled in a whirlpool and twirled like a top. I battled wildly 
to guide its course, but it was no use ; the waters were having 
their own way and were making a high old jest of it. The swift, 
tumultuous current tossed the raft as if it were the merest chip, 
dashed it here and there like a bubble on the surface. Wet with 
perspiration and with aching muscles I strove more and more to 
stem the tide and at least shape its course to the opposite shore. 



4/6 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

All in vain; the utmost endeavors only caused it to revolve in 
a circle, while all the time the planks, borne on the bosom of the 
current, had been impelled swiftly down the fast-flowing river. In 
the meantime the violence of the eddying stream had commenced 
to dash the raft to pieces. Several large timbers becoming 
loosened and detached, floated away, and in a few minutes the 
whole thing would go to wreck. Not far off were the lights of 
the block-house at Monocacy, toward which the fast crumb- 
ling raft was hurrying with frightful velocity. In five minutes, if 
the boards could hold together so long, it would be caught under 
the arches of the bridge below. Such paddling was never wit- 
nessed on the Potomac, and it was only by intense physical exer- 
tion that I succeeded in returning to the shore which had just 
been left, and not one minute too soon ; jumping on shore I gave 
tlie cursed old concern a spiteful kick, which caused it to shoot 
far out into the stream. It dashed down the river and disap- 
peared in the gloom. 

In far deeper gloom I walked back to the canal boat, too mis- 
erable to speak ; and sat for some time incapable even of think- 
ing. After all I had gone through, it was hard, very hard, to wind 
up at the same point from which I started, only worse off. 

Tragedy and comedy are inseparably linked together, and as 
woe-begone as I was, I thought of a story I had heard, and burst 
into hysterical laughter. Dick Martin told it to me one night in 
camp and said it was frozen truth. 

"It was down in the Northern Neck, in Virginia, the summer 
before the war. A neighbor had an old razorbacked sow, which 
used to raise a plentiful lot of pigs every year, and when these 
young porkers were large enough to follow her, she would break 
in his corn-field, despite fence or stone wall. If she could not 
sque'eze through a panel of the fence she would root a hole in 
the wall, and once in, would play havoc with the growing crop. 
There was one particular spot in the stone wall through which she 
was accustomed to make her entrance and her exit. Often would 
the farmer fill up the aperture, only to find that the hog with her 
long snout had mined her way through on the very next day. 
He stood this until, as Mark Twain would say, 'it became mo- 
notonous ;' so he sought a hollow log in the shape of a 'U,' with 
which he stopped the hole, both ends opening, of course, on 
the highway. It was a very warm day that I chanced to be 
traveling along the road, and rested for a moment under the 
shade of a large tree near by. In the few minutes I saw a tall, gaunt 



CROSSING THE POTOMAC ON A RAI'T 477 

female swine, with a whole brood of pigs, making her way with 
divers grunts of satisfaction toward the corn-field, advancing, as 
if she had not a second to lose, to her special aperture. In she 
went as if it were an accustomed runway, her whole family at her 
heels. In the shortest space of time she emerged; but instead 
of finding herself among the succulent corn-stalks she had struck 
the dusty turnpike. If ever a hog was puzzled, she was. How- 
ever, after giving her head a wise shake, she essayed the trip again 
and once more reappeared on the same side of the fence. The 
old sow was posed and staggered, for nice as her brains would 
have been in a frying-pan, they were not equal to the situation. 
Eer little eyes blinked, her little rat-tail wiggled, and she grunted 
her perplexity to her noisy offspring. Making a detour, and 
taking the bearings so as to be sure she was right this time, she 
confidently made her third trial. She passed in at the hollow- 
log and came out as she had entered. But no sooner had she 
emerged the third time with the same result than, casting a hor- 
rified look around, she gave a frightened squeal and set off down 
the road as if the Devil were after her." 

And so I felt like the old sow. I had gone into the hole : yonder 
was the corn-field I had hoped to reach and I found myself just 
where I started. 

Nearly frozen, half starved, wholly demoralized, I sat there on 
the tow-path wondering what in this world of sorrows I was to 
do next. I must go to some house, get something to eat, and 
some sleep, then pick the flint and try again. 

"Homme propose, mais Dieu dispose." 

It was a dim, misty night; a sudden wind had risen, filling the 
sky with floating clouds and chilling the blood of any half-clothed 
unfortunate who walked the earth. I kept on and had hardly 
gone two miles when suddenly there came the quick, sharp chal- 
lenge : 

"Halt!" 

In the dim Hght a squad of men could be seen, and the ghnt 
of the musket barrel showed who they were. I felt like Samson, 
when the Philistines got him the second time. 



CHAPTER XII. 

RKCAPTURKD. 

There were five soldiers who demanded a surrender; and 
each had his musket leveled, the hammer drawn back, his finger 
upon the trigger. 

Striking a match, the Federals surveyed their trophy, felt my 
pockets for arms and ordered me to come along. 

According to a preconcerted plan, I tried the countryman's 
dodge, and told them that I only lived a mile through the woods ; 
begged the soldiers to go home with me, promising them some- 
thing to drink if they would come. 

It would not work, the Yankees had evidently more than a 
suspicion who their captive was, and had no idea of giving me a 
chance to escape through the woods ; so with two on each side 
and the fifth leading the way, the party kept down the tow-path 
toward the canal boat. On the way they informed me that they 
were a part of the garrison at the Point of Rocks ; that a citizen 
had given information at the post to the effect that a large party 
was building a raft, intending to cross to the Virginia side, which 
they had been sent to apprehend. 

Reaching the canal boat, the soldiers made a close examina- 
tion, of course finding nobody ; then, continuing their investiga- 
tions, they went down the bank. At the very point where I had 
started with the raft was a skiff with two paddles. Oh, if I had 
only waited two hours! If — oh, the momentous weight of an "if!"' 

Some Virginians across the way had evidently seen the worker 
on the raft, and conjecturing at once who it was, had come in a 
boat to the rescue, and were probably looking for me then as 
the party pounced upon the skifT, the sides and bottom of which 
were soon stove in by the butt end of the muskets in the hands 
of the enemy. So in addition to the woes of prisoners, came 
the keen regret that friends would suffer in trying to give aid. 
But there was little time for either sorrow or regret. The ser- 
geant gave the order to march, and in an hour the party arrived 
at its destination. Point of Rocks, a station on the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad. 

Seeing there was no further use in concealment, I acknowl- 
edged to the sergeant my real identity. He took me to the ad- 



RECAPTURED 479 

jutaiit, a fine, gentlemanly looking fellow, who merely asked if I 
had papers of any kind, and upon being answered in the negative, 
courteously declined the proffered offer to submit the contents of 
my pockets to inspection. He invited me to sit down, and for 
half an hour conversed very pleasantly upon the topics of the 
day; asking many questions about the South, the morale of the 
army, the state of the commissariat, in all of which he seemed 
much interested. 

At last the guard returned and I was taken into one of the un- 
occupied rooms of the depot, where a half dozen meal sacks were 
given in lieu of blankets, and a sentinel placed in the room. 

I fully intended trying to get away that night, and could easily 
have done so ; for there was but one guard, who would probably 
fall asleep. Then escape to the woods could be effected before 
any alarm would be made. I went to sleep with the determina- 
tion to waken somewhere about midnight, but was so broken 
down by hard work, exposure and excitement, that I did not 
open my eyes until late in the morning. Performing a hasty 
toilet, I went to breakfast with the guard, eating and chatting* 
sociably together. The rations drawn by a private soldier in the 
Federal Army made one Reb open his eyes. How happy and 
contented our comrades across the way would be if they could 
live like the rank and file of this Yankee host. Breakfast con- 
sisted of loaf bread, hot biscuit, coffee with plenty of sugar, fried 
ham, cold beef, hardtack and molasses. This the guard averred 
was his regular breakfast rations; for dinner, he declared, beans, 
rice and hominy were issued ; and that he had never bought a 
cent's worth of food since he had been in the garrison. When I 
told him how the soldiers of the South fared, officers and men, 
he said if his Government fed him so he would desert the first 
opportunity. 

After breakfast I was taken before the commandant of the 
post, a big, brawny, red-faced fellow, who first tried to scare me 
into fits by his scowling face and bullying tones ; then, seeing 
that a boy who had been trained in the school of danger was not 
apt to quake in his shoes and become frightened because a moon- 
faced officer put on a sour face and howled, he ordered his satellites 
to treat me as a spy instead of a regular soldier in the Confederate 
Army. He searched me, but I saved the money by slipping the 
rolls into my mouth, a suggestion for which I had to thank my 
friend the guard of the night before. He whispered the hint to 
me in parting, and so I was enabled to save ten dollars. It was 



480 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

ever thus, Billy Yank helping Johnny Reb. The examination 
was of the strictest kind ; pockets were turned inside out, clothes 
shaken, boots removed, and stockings too, while the colonel stood 
by as if he expected to discover treasonable documents which 
would consign the youth before him to the gallows ; and while 
putting an end to him, reflect undying credit on himself. Visions, 
no doubt, of the capture of Andre and appropriation by Congress 
from the United States Treasury to fill the pockets and swell the 
fame of the brave captor, flashed across his mind. And yet, as old 
Tony Weller said of matrimony, "it was a pity to go through so 
much to get so little ;" for the most rigorous scrutiny failed to 
discover anything except an old Richmond passport, which only 
served to establish the identity of myself. 

This puffed-up individual was the colonel of the First Mary- 
land Union Regiment, but he could hardly have been a native of 
that proud old State. The lieutenant-colonel, who had lost his 
arm in battle, was a gallant and unmistakable gentleman, who 
treated his Southern prisoner with marked courtesy; so also was 
the adjutant. Save these two, all the ofiflcers of the First Regiment 
with whom I came in contact were rather a rough set of men. 

After the search was ended I was subjected to a pumping pro- 
cess, which brought up one pint of information to a barrel of lies. 
I recounted truly my escape, but everything as regarded the 
strength and condition of the army, of course, as a soldier, I did 
not answer. I was then dismissed and sent back to the depot 
to await the first train to Harper's Ferry. At eleven in the morn- 
ing the cars stopped ; I was put on board and in an hour disem- 
barked at the Ferry, and was immediately taken before the pro- 
vost marshal and subjected to another examination, in which, 
despite all protest, pockets and boots underwent another severe 
scrutiny, it is needless to say with the same barren results. 

Then I was placed in the garrison guard-house, a horrible 
place, worse by far than a jail. This prison was cold, dreary and 
filthy beyond belief. - Originally it had been a part of the old 
Armory building, burnt during the first year of the war. Noth- 
ing but the walls had been left standing; these had been roofed 
over, and converted into a decent shelter so far as the rain was 
concerned, but afforded no protection against the biting blasts of 
winter. There were three large rooms connected by doorways 
which had no doors, but instead stood a sentinel with loaded 
musket to prevent going from one apartment to another, save 
those who had the authority to pass. The room upon the left was 



RECAPTURED 481 

for the use of the officer of the day; that in the center was for 
Rebel prisoners, while in the one on the right were confined 
Yankees held in durance for a gamut of crimes, running from de- 
sertion to murder. 

The newly arrived prisoner was placed by mistake in this den 
of lions; my citizen's suit covering the uniform was doubtless the 
cause of the error. In a few seconds, in fact as soon as the 
guard had disappeared from the door, I was attacked by the 
Yankees, and a lively fight ensued. Of course it was all one way,, 
and would have ended seriously, but fortunately the officer of the 
day, hearing the racket and fearing that murder was being com- 
mitted, rushed in, and striking right and left with his sword, soon 
quieted the tumult. I was but a boy in years, slight in form, 
and was carried out from my encounter with a roomful of sav- 
age roughs, with eyes bunged, nose bleeding and clothes torn; 
whereupon the officer declared that I myself had raised the row, 
in fact was dangerous and must be handcuffed, and handcuffed 
I was. Honor to the man who conceived the kindlv thousfht! 
Due honor to his bravery ! It had been the fable over again of 
the lamb muddying the stream; but all honor to the officer's 
charge, his keen perception of the situation, and his prompt 
measures to preserve the garrison. 

I was then placed among my own people in the center room, 
only six all told, picked up here and there at different times. 

For a couple of weeks I remained just about as happy as dis- 
embodied spirits confined in the chambers of Dante's "Inferno." 
The food was insufficient, our treatment cruel and inhuman in 
the extreme. The guards were accustomed to strike and kick 
the men in their charge on the slightest provocation. Of course 
they were not Americans. The true Anglo-Saxon race has but 
little of the tyrant or bully in it. They were Dutch, but few- 
speaking any English at all, though the regiment was known as 
the Ninety-third Pennsylvania. There was not a prisoner there 
who did not bear, either upon his face or his person, some legible 
scar or wound made by those Dutchmen. Because I would not 
give one of the guards my brier-wood, I was knocked senseless 
and my head cut open by a brick which the Dutchman picked up 
and threw so quickly that I did not have time to dodge. I will 
carry the scar of that ignoble wound to my dying day. 

Another was struck on the chest by the butt of a musket, 
which resulted in a hemorrhage; a third suffered from a bayonet 
thrust through his leg, while a fourth felt his nose grow almost to 
31 



482 JOHNNY REB AND BII^IvY YANK 

the size of a turnip, rendered thus corpulent by the stroke of a fist. 
All this without the shadow of a cause. There was absolutely 
no authority to whom one could appeal, for the officer who had 
temporary charge of the prisoners was a captain in the Ninety- 
third, by whose orders four out of six captured soldiers were 
handcuffed. There could be no appeal to him. 

It was hard to become accustomed to those iron bracelets ; and 
it would be a long time before the wearer learned to use his hands. 
Both must be moved at the same time, the right must follow the 
left, or else a sharp jerk would further wound the lacerated flesh ; 
even in deepest sleep, dreams were tinctured by iron fetters, and 
the wearer wakened twenty times a night. 

But custom soon became a habit ; and after the first week 
they could be worn as unconsciously as the maiden sports her 
golden bracelet. 

The Yankee prisoners next door made day and night resonant 
with songs and howls. At least twenty fights in the twelve 
hours were averaged, only checked by the officers rushing in and 
hammering away with their swords at every head, while the sen- 
tinel stood and watched the fun with a grin of satisfaction on his 
dull, beery face. 

How the Northern prisoners learned to hate the Dutchmen; 
they reviled them, they cursed them, they denounced them in all 
the choice terms drawn from a large and unique collection of 
Billingsgate, and they mimicked their broken English until the 
said Dutchmen were beside themselves with rage. 

Those prisoners were a rough set ; half of them were born in 
the gutter, reared in the streets, and had served a term in Bride- 
well or jail. They gravitated as naturally to prison as a sailor 
just landed from a long cruise goes to a gin shop. They passed 
their time in all sorts of cruel practical jokes. One circumstance 
will serve for illustration, happening as it did under the eye of the 
Rebels, who could attest its truth. 

A guard was standing in the doorway dividing the center and 
west rooms, in which were confined the prisoners of both North 
and South. He was a big, savage Hessian, some forty years old, 
whose ponderous fist was ever ready to strike, whose mouth was 
always filled with tobacco juice, ready to squirt on the prisoners 
of either side — on their faces, their hands, their persons, it made 
no difference to the barbarian. He was very fond of smoking, 
and owned a real German pipe, the bowl of which was china, fully 
six inches in length, and held a handful of tobacco. It had a flex- 



RECAPTURED 483 

ible gutta-percha tube, and when the amber mouth-piece was 
clasped between the teeth the top of the long bowl came to with- 
in a few inches of his eyes. One morning he was smoking at his 
usual post, when the officer of the day called him hastily into the 
guard-room. Leaning his musket across the doorway, he laid 
his pipe upon a cracker-box which stood near by, and hurried out. 
He was gone only a minute, but even in that time, as quick as 
thought, his pipe had been seized and manipulated in some mys- 
terious manner, and hastily returned to the same place before 
he was ready to resume his smoke. He took it up. The prison- 
ers on the Rebel side knew that something had been done, for 
they had seen the Yankee snatch the pipe and slyly slip it back; 
but the guard had brutally struck several of their number, so they 
considered it no business of theirs to give the word o£ warning. 
The pipe did not seem to draw, though the Dutchman worked 
at it until he grew purple in the face. Then he examined it; the 
fire had gone out. Drawing a match from his pocket he lit the 
tobacco and puffed away very contentedly. There were half a 
hundred pairs of eyes watching him with breathless eagerness, 
waiting some denouement. It came soon enough ! A flash of 
fire darted from the bowl of the pipe and enveloped his face. The 
hair and beard were in a flame in a second, while the white smoke 
spread like a little cloud through the room and drifted upward 
toward the rafters. The strong man, one moment standing 
erect, the next was rolling over the floor in agony, lading the air 
with horrible shrieks and screams. Guards and officers rushed 
in. The odor of burned hair was filling the room with a nau- 
seating stench. A surgeon was sent for; meanwhile the man 
was mad with pain, requiring a half dozen men to hold him in his 
frenzied struggles. The doctor arrived, and on examining the 
patient, disclosed to view a face the sight of which was sickening 
in the extreme. One side was blistered black ; the left eye 
had been at the moment directly over the bowl of the pipe, and 
looked only like a black piece of cork. In his torture the soldier, 
in broken English, prayed to be killed; indeed his cries were so 
loud and fearful that they brought scores of soldiers around the 
building, who had heard the shrieks of the man half a mile away. 
"Who did this?" sternly demanded the commandant, going 
into the room. Nobody knew anything about it; in fact there 
were no witnesses to point out even so much as a surmise, for the 
afflicted man was incoherent and could answer no questions. Only 
this much was known : some one had nearly filled the bowl with 



484 JOHNNY RKB AND BILIvY YANK 

gunpowder, and a small quantity of tobacco on top. A few whiffs 
burnt the tobacco and ignited the powder with the result just 
related. 

The catastrophe had a good effect upon the Dutch soldiers, 
who were a scary set at best. It made them more circumspect, 
while those on guard thereafter kept their eyes open and their 
hands to themselves. 

At last one morning, to the joy of all, the prisoners learned that 
the Ninety-third Pennsylvania would leave the next day and 
another regiment take its place. The treatment meted out to 
them by these foreign ruf^ans had so embittered them that each 
Rebel hoped from the bottom of his heart they would leave their 
bones on some Virginia battle-field. 

Sure enough, the next morning those bullying Hessians 
marched away, followed by the hisses and hootings of both 
Yankee and Rebel prisoners, who only wished that every parting 
curse could have been a good-sized brickbat. 

Our men were overjoyed to find that the place of the Ninety- 
third was to be filled by the Fourteenth New Hampshire, who had 
guarded the Old Capitol Prison. The former charges of Lieu- 
tenant Webster renewed their acquaintance with him with pleas- 
ure, for he was as jovial and good-hearted a fellow as ever lived. 
He had all handcuffs off in an hour after his arrival. Glorious, 
sunny-tempered Webster! my heart warms at the recollection of 
his genial voice, warm glances and many kindnesses ; he improved 
the situation in every way. 

But all this time the subject of escape had never left the mind 
of at least one man who had once succeeded in eluding the vigil- 
ance of the Washington guards. I brooded, plotted and planned, 
but there was absolutely no chance at Harper's Ferry on which to 
build a hope. Even if I could succeed in getting out of the build- 
ing, the river ran on one side, the precipitous mountain a few feet 
off hedged in the other, while on the right and left were two 
bridges guarded strongly by day and night. It was a cage within 
a cage; if one was forced the other would certainly hold. Yet I, 
who dreamed of liberty every moment, determined to make the 
attempt whenever and wherever an opportunity should occur, 
except at this one place. 

Rebel prisoners were brought in nearly every day, singly and 
in twos and threes; mostly Mosby's men, captured on scouts. 

On the twenty-second of February, 1864, a small squad ar- 
rived, all Marylanders, caught in trying to run the blockade to 



RECAPTURED 485 

Baltimore; and on the twenty-ninth, seventeen more, belong-ing 
to ]\losby's battahon, were captured, and the one Rebel room of 
the prison was crowded in consequence. Of course the new ac- 
quisitions made it more pleasant for those already garnered. 

But there were getting too many, evidently, for the "comfort 
of the authorities; and on the principle that a man when his 
pockets overflow will carry his treasure to bank, orders were given 
to start on the morrow for Camp Chase in Ohio. 

The Rebels filled one car and had a pleasant ride to Wheeling, 
West Virginia, where they were stopped for the night. The 
guard-room was in delightful contrast to the one just vacated, being 
immense in size, well heated, light, airy and scrupulously neat, with 
pillows and mattresses. The food was well cooked and very pal- 
atable. 

But even amid these comforts the stern realities of war made 
themselves felt. On every side could be seen the Northern pris- 
oners, fettered with ball and chain; and in such numbers that 
when they walked about over the floor dragging the iron balls, it 
sounded altogether like the mutterings of a thunder-storm. Many 
were the devices used by the unfortunates to lighten the burdens 
of the heavy ball, the most common consisting of a little wagon 
in which the heavy shot could be rolled about from place to place, 
just as a school-boy loves to trundle about mimic burdens in minia- 
ture carts. 

Here was some tangible proof of the strict discipline of the 
Lnion Army, and the treatment accorded the Yankee private, of 
whom one had been wearing the ball and chain for six months 
with the prospect of six more, because of a personal difficulty with 
his sergeant, whom he had struck. Another lay in his bunk w^ith 
his leg swollen to an enormous size, but the irons were not re- 
moved. Some were ill, but still wore the fetters. All this would 
not have been tolerated in our Army of Northern Virginia. 

Each new arrival had to be initiated by being tossed in a blanket, 
just as the goatherds threw poor Sancho Panza in the inn yard. 
There was no use of resisting; a dozen willing hands seized the 
\ictim, placed him in a large, thick blanket, some twelve feet 
square; as many as could wxdge in would grasp the edges, and 
then with united effort the body would be sent twenty feet into 
the air, only to fall and rise again. The fun of the thing con- 
sisted in the struggles and absurd gyrations of the tossed as he 
would fly through space — indeed it was irresistibly ludicrous. 

Sometimes they would catch an old stager, who would l^e like 



486 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

a lump and not move a muscle ; who would rise like a log and fall 
like a stone; there would be no fun in tossing him, and his 
speedy release would be an assured thing. Indeed the game to 
him was rather pleasant than otherwise; the only inconvenience 
being the fear that the elastic cloth giving way, he might drop 
upon the hard floor. But this rarely happened, and the initiation 
having been gone through with, he might be sure of future peace. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE SECOND ESCAPE. 

The prisoners spent the following day in the WheeUng prison, 
and had strong hopes that this would be their future home, for 
with the exception of Fort Warren, it was the most comfortable 
place of confinement in America. Some few prisoners would 
have been well content to spend the remainder of the war there. 
But no sooner had each man selected his bunk, chosen his com- 
rade, and made those Httle arrangements looking to a protracted 
stay, than orders were received to leave in half an hour. There 
seemed no rest for the weary in that delectable region, so the 
men fell into line and marched to the depot. The cars were not 
forthcoming, however, consequently the prisoners were con- 
ducted back, with orders to be ready to start next morning be- 
fore day. 

"Where are we going?" asked one of the number of the officer 
in charge. 

"Camp Chase," he answered curtly, as he turned away. 

''Camp Chase!" the words sounded like a knell to all who heard 
them. We had listened recently to fearful accounts of this prison ; 
tales of dreadful cold, insufficient rations, of the awful death-rate 
among the prisoners ; all of which were much exaggerated doubt- 
less in the telling, but which filled the mind with horror. 

"Camp Chase!" the boding words chased sleep from the eyes 
that night, for neither the princely Clarence nor the noble Buck- 
ingham felt more aversion, or gloomy forebodings in going to 
the Tower, than did those doomed for that Ohio Hades. 

Julian Robinson, of Mosby's battalion, and myself lay quietly 
in whispered consultation. We felt certain that the best and 
last chance was to escape en route, for once in that fortified place, 
we knew by hearsay that the opportunities of getting away were 
one in a million. Among the many thousands confined there, not 
more than a score had succeeded in the attempt to escape. No 
further exchange of prisoners could take place it was said, and 
v/ho knew — the war might last for years yet. Better be killed 
at once than to linger out a life of torture and die a thousand 
deaths in lengthened imprisonment. So we made up our minds 



488 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

that in twenty-four hours we would be free in our physical bodies, 
if possible; in spirit, if fortune so willed it." 

The best plan was to play the same game which I had played 
so successfully in Washington, only this time, instead of a citizen's 
suit, I determined to wear the Yankee uniform. Both of us had 
several changes of underclothing, and also a few dollars which 
we had held and concealed as a miser does his hoard. The money 
was destined to come into practical use, for before the journey 
commenced we traded the stock in hand for a blue overcoat 
and Yankee cap apiece. Of course the Federal prisoners knew 
what we wanted with them, but the little flame of patriotism 
which had once burned in their hearts had been utterly quenched 
by confinement, so they readily made the bargain ; nay, they 
even gave the names of several Southern sympathizers living in 
Wheeling, to whom it might be well to apply in case we succeeded 
in taking French leave. 

At three o'clock, before dawn, the prisoners were roused by 
the guards ; a breakfast of hot coffee, bread and meat was ready 
for us. We were then formed into ranks of twos and marched 
clown the street. In the confusion of starting, Robinson and my- 
self became separated ; the former being in the front and I in 
the rear of the column. 

In all, there were about forty-five prisoners in the squad, and 
their route lay through the principal street. In fifteen minutes' 
walk the line had reached the suspension bridge, a magnificent 
iron structure thrown across the Ohio River, on the other side 
of which was the village called Bridgeport. There we were to 
take the cars to Columbus, where the prison was situated. 

We slipped on our overcoats along the route. It was bitterly 
cold, the north wind sweeping in boisterous gusts down the 
river and whistling its wild refrain through the iron bars of the 
bridge, hanging so loftily in the air that it seemed to swing like 
a rope in the roaring blast. Beneath, two hundred feet, so dis- 
tant that it made the head swim to watch it, ran the river; its 
bosom filled with huge blocks of floating ice, whose hard crack- 
ling and grinding sounded above the dash of the wind. 

It was then light; the day had dawned but the sun had not yet 
risen. The bridge was several yards wide. After traveling the 
main roadway a short distance, the column deflected and took the 
part partitioned off for foot-passengers, which was about four feet 
wide. We had traversed about nine-tenths of the distance, and 
a dozen steps would bring us to the end of the bridge, where not 



THK SECOND ESCAPE 489 

fifty feet away was the depot. I was walking with Bob Ballenger, 
an Alexandrian of Mosby's Rangers, a tall, slab-sided fellow, who 
stumbled along as if half asleep, his chin sunk on his breast and 
his old slouch hat pulled over his eyes. Now was the time, and 
if Robinson's nerve had failed I would have to look out for myself. 
As I glanced forward I saw a blue-coated figure cross the line at the 
head of the column, and in a few paces more I saw my comrade 
leaning against the hand rail and heard him mock and jibe the 
prisoners as they passed. I pulled myself together; the head 
of the column was across the bridge. I threw my old slouch hat 
on the ground and replaced it with a neat Yankee cap, and 
stepped right by the guard, uttering the same exclamation I had 
used in my escape in Washington, with exactly the same result; 
the guard was bewildered, and half checked his pace forward 
and involuntarily brought his gun down from his shoulder, but 
he could not stop without having a scene ; and he was not sure, and 
the natural attitude of the blue-coat decided the mental conflict 
in his mind, so he reshouldered his gim and stalked on. 

Bob Ballenger, after the war was over, said he did not see me 
vanish, nor were either Robinson or myself missed until some 
minutes after, when the Rebel squad was turned over to the Ohio 
provost guard, who tolled off each name as the men stepped aside, 
and when we were missed a fine disturbance followed. Every one 
of our guards stoutly maintained that they brought the whole de- 
tachment over just as they were delivered to them. Thinking that 
Ave must have been left in the prison at Wheeling, two guards were 
sent back after us. 

In a few seconds I was at Robinson's side ; we uttered no words, 
but the pressure of our hands and the glance of our eyes told the 
tale though our lips were mute, for we were too happy to speak. 

We were in a very tight place, and the first question was no 
idle one: what should we do? 

It meant certain capture to stay on the bridge ; we knew our 
absence would be noticed, for the roll was bound to be called 
at the cars, and if our absence was not discovered the guard 
would soon be returning to the prison. W^e could not go on to 
Bridgeport, for that would be like running into the foe ; we could 
not jump ofif into the water, that would be certain death; and 
how could we return to Wheeling when on the other side of the 
bridge walked a sentinel who would arrest us on sight? 

The truth was, the only possible course of action was to get 
back to Wheeling, guard or no guard, so after a little discussion 



490 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

we decided upon a course of action ; we would write a pass, and 
if the sentinel refused to let us go on, we were to seize him and 
throw him headlong into the river. It was no time to stop then, 
we were playing for high stakes. If one enemy's life stood be- 
tween us and liberty, it would have to go. 

"I will offer him the pass." said Robinson ; "you stand behind 
him, and if he declines to recognize it, I will clap my hand over 
his mouth, you grasp his legs and pitch him suddenly over the 
parapet." 

So I took a piece of paper and wrote with a lead pencil the 
following : 

"Wheeling, West Virginia. February 24th, 1864. 
"Privates Robert and James Smith, Co. H, Fourth Union West 
Virginia Cavalry, have permission to cross over to Bridgeport, 
Ohio, and return on the morning of the 25th. 

"James Echols. 
"Approved: I. C. Benton, 

'Tol. Comdg." 

With this document we walked toward the guard, hoping and 
trusting that he was an ignorant gawk who would not have sense 
enough to discover the imposition. 

As we came within ten feet of him he halted us. He was a 
cavalryman, a tall, fine-looking fellow, with flashing black eyes. 
He had his sabre drawn and was slowly pacing the bridge, whist- 
ling a lively stave. 

"Halt! You cannot go by without a pass." 

"Here is one," answered Robinson, moving to one side and 
leaning carelessly against the railing. The trooper came up, 
took the paper and was reading it, while I selected my position 
behind him. 

We could hear the beating of our own hearts, as with nerves 
tensioned and muscles steeled we waited his decision. 

Surely many men go through life little knowing the perils all 
unseen which lurk so near ; many a man stands unconsciously 
even while the grim spectre Death opens wide his arms to enfold 
the victim while he himself, it may be, never knows his hazard. 

"Oh !" said the cavalryman ; "this paper is not of any account." 

I gave a quick look ; there was no sign of a human being within 
sight or call ; only we three stood alone on the bridge, and the 
dying cry would not be heard. 



THE SECOND ESCAPE 49 1 

The sands of that soldier's hfe were nearh- run ; the threads of 
his woof nearly spun. Surely some good angel guarded him in 
that his moment of supreme danger. A second later and all 
would have been over, when he added : 

"I know you boys have run the blockade over there, but you 
can slip by if you choose." 

And then he resumed his march and his tune, which came near 
being left unfinished. 

Once in \Mieeling we called at the house of a Southern sym- 
pathizer and scared that worthy out of his senses ; nor did we get 
a cent. However, he supplied us freely with advice to leave the 
city at once, which plan we immediately proceeded to put into 
execution. On our way through the streets we were recognized 
by some Yankees who had acted as guards in the prison, but who 
were fortunately unarmed. A lively race ensued : but as it was 
so early in the morning there were none on the streets to cry 
"stop thief!" and aid in the chase. There were only two pur- 
suers ; one, a short, fat little fellow, who dropped out of the 
race early in the game ; but the other, a tall, long-legged Yankee, 
who could get over a square in a few strides of his seven-leagued 
boots, kept on to the outskirts of the city, and did not give over 
the run until his prey stopped and seized each a rock, when his 
patriotism, which had rendered his heels so lively, suddenly oozed 
out and we were left in peace. Then we made a spurt and did not 
rest until we had put several miles between us and the dirty, 
smoke-grimed city of Wheeling. 

Our intention was to make a detour, strike the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad, down which we proj^osed to travel, trusting to 
fortune to steal rides and be helped along by our own and others' 
wits, and so make our way into Virginia. I had relations living 
in Cumberland, Maryland, who, if we could reach them safely, 
would certainly help us all in their power. In fact the railroad 
was the only route we could take, for the country was one suc- 
cession of mountain ranges over which it was simply impossible 
to make one's way in the dead of winter. 

Both of us thought we knew what good walking meant, having 
liad practice as foot cavalry, and also imagined we had ex- 
perience in roads ; but those hills proved we were novices 
after all. It was only about fourteen miles to the point which we 
wished to strike, but it required eight hours of constant toil to 
make it. Up one mountain, down another, wading streams, forc- 
ing bushes and laurel brakes, until our strength was well-nigh 



492 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

gone. Late in the evening we reached the railroad track, and 
did not stop until nearly ten o'clock, when we halted at a small 
cottage on the side of the road about a half mile from the depot, 
and applied for something to eat. 

The owner, a young man, politely invited us in and supplied 
us with a most comfortable supper. We repeated to him 
the varnished tale : that we belonged to the Union Army, had just 
returned from home in Preston County, West Virginia, and 
were en route to Washington, and had been left by the cars, hav- 
ing gone up the valley to obtain something to eat and had not 
returned in time. 

He heard us so far without interruption, when a smile broke 
over his face and he replied courteously: 

"Boys, you need not attempt to deceive me, you are escaped 
Southern prisoners. I heard about you in Wheeling to-day, and 
knew you as soon as I set eyes upon you." 

This knocked us flat and we confessed the truth and begged 
him not to betray us, telling him of all our sufferings and disap- 
pointments, until his sympathies became thoroughly enlisted. 

He replied that he was a Union man but he would not divulge 
our secret to any one. 

Thanking him, which was all that we could do, we retired to 
rest, utterly worn out with excitement and fatigue. 

A good night's sleep and hearty meal made us feel as bright 
as a new dollar. We were much surprised when our host told us 
that in the next room was a sick brother, a Federal soldier be- 
longing to the First (Union) West Virginia Infantry, home on a 
furlough. 

He had heard the conversation of the preceding night, but 
sent word that he would not abuse the rights of hospitality and 
have us arrested, as he could easily have done by sending a no- 
tice to the guard at the depot but a short distance up the track. 
He said further, that we had better make good use of the time, 
as the guards along the roads would be on the lookout for the 
two escaped prisoners. 

We thanked him for his generous hospitality and showed our 
full appreciation of that high honor which forbade his taking 
advantage of a foe who had broken his bread and eaten his salt. 
We made a note of his name and regiment, asking that if the for- 
tunes of war should ever throw him a prisoner into the hands of 
the Rebels, to write and let us know, and we would pledge our- 
selves to go to General Lee in person, in his behalf. He com- 



THE SKCOND ESCAPE ' 493 

plied, giving the name of John Rudkins, Company I, First W. 
Va. (Union) Infantry. 

A cordial pressure of the hand and we took our departure. 

Tramping steadily along all day we made very good time, 
passing several depots and stations on the route, some gar- 
risoned. We were not molested, however, for we had traded off 
the blue overcoats and caps for suits of butternut in the most 
dilapidated condition, reminding one of the old fellow in the 
nursery tales: "Rags and tatters; tatters and rags." 

En route we encountered many Irish laborers at work on the 
track, and in every instance found their sympathies were with 
the South. 

There were three reasons for this : one was, that in their opin- 
ion the situation of the South was analogous to that of Ireland ; 
another, that the Southern States were more Catholic than the 
North and had received the recognition and sympathy of the 
Pope ; while above all, the feelings of the warm-hearted sons of 
Erin were always on the side of the under dog in the fight. Con- 
sequently, we Rebels soon learned that whenever we met an Irish- 
man we had met a friend. 

With the citizens we had, on the contrary, to be very cautious 
in act and guarded in conversation ; generally representing our- 
selves as Rebel prisoners released from Camp Chase after taking 
the oath of allegiance, to which we were obliged to subscribe in 
order to save our lives. Fortunately our appearance, so gaunt, 
haggard and thin, corroborated our statements and no one 
doubted our words. 

After a steady tramp all day along the track we stopped for 
tiie night at a small house near the railroad. The inmates, wIiq 
were very ignorant, accepted all yarns as gospel. Upon inquiry 
we found that we had walked just twenty-four miles that day. 

After a good breakfast, paid for in thanks, of which we had an 
inexhaustible supply, we continued our tramp. It was a bright, 
sunny day; the scenery along the route was superb; the moun- 
tains, rising grandly, hovered in their pride thousands of feet 
above the clear limpid streams at their base. Brooks came danc- 
ing here and there down the jagged steeps, tossing into the flow- 
ing river a shower of pearls. Looming up, like giant sentinels 
keeping unsleeping watch, were the beetling, overhanging crags 
of the Alleghanies. The white clouds floated over their topmost 
peaks, half concealing, half revealing them. On the height of the 
grade the view was entrancing and the eye could take in at one 



494 JOHNNY rEb and billy yank 

glance the whole effect : the sun touching the clouds and paint- 
ing them in gorgeous tints beyond all earthly coloring, the back- 
ground of peak on peak stretching in the distance. 

Ever and anon came the great iron steed, toiling up the pre- 
cipitous track with its long, winding burden, panting as it curved 
in and out upon its course, gaining as if with fiery throes the 
steep ascent. As it reached the crest it startled the echoes with 
its scream, and shaking its dusky head, plunged down the iron 
slope — spurning the dull earth with flying heels, and beating out 
in the twilight-air a stream of flaky fire. 

The sun sank below the mountains, and we quickened our 
steps with the sudden reminder that we had eaten nothing since 
morning, and that it was time to drop sentiment and attend to 
fact. But mile after mile was traversed, and still no light gleamed 
through the window, no sound of civilized life broke upon our ears. 

About midnight we were completely broken down, so choosing 
a secluded spot in the forest, and striking a match, soon had a 
glorious fire. Collecting an armful of leaves as a substitute for 
a bed, we were in a moment oblivious to all human woes. 

An ample dinner given by a good Samaritan brought us up 
wonderfully next day; and we made good time, not stopping 
even to talk with the Irish section-hands working along the track. 

No one took much notice of the two ragged individuals walk- 
ing down the road. Who could have recognized the gay Cava- 
lier or "Company Darling" of Mosby's battalion — Julian Robin- 
son, the ladies' pet, the maidens' love — in that tatterdemalion 
limping along the railroad in the wild Cheat River region ? I was 
in no better plight and so, collectively, we formed a tableau at 
which the children stared and the dogs barked. 

To vary the monotony of the journey we were accustomed to 
stop and talk with every one we met, who, as characteristic of 
the people, were inordinately curious, and invariably asked three 
questions, viz : 

"What are your names? Where do you come from? Where 
are you going?" 

To each was improvised a different answer to suit the emer- 
gency ; and certainly none could have traced us by the names, for 
the only ones we ever avoided taking were the ones our sponsors 
gave us. 

The second interrogation was usually responded to by the in- 
formation that we were paroled prisoners from Camp Chase. 

"Look here, gentlemen," said Robinson, as a group of country- 



The second escape 495 

men gathered around the stove in a little country store, after 
having listened to a frightful account of the horrors of Camp 
Chase, drawn from hearsay more than from imagination. 

"Look at me; when I was first carried into that infernal prison 
I weighed fully two hundred pounds; and look at me now, why 
1 would not tip the scales at ninety-seven," 

"Dang my buttons!" exclaimed a listener, with open eyes look- 
ing at the slim body of the speaker, " 'pears as if you had died 
and come to life again." 

"Good God! I'd as lief be killed at once as be sent there," re- 
marke-d another with sincerity in his tones. 

"If they are Rebels, they oughtn't to be treated as if they was 
dogs," growled an old rough-faced Unionist. 

So they clubbed together, and we took up a collection amount- 
ing to one dollar and seventy-five cents, which sent us on our 
way rejoicing. We were in an enemy's country, and the first 
principle of military strategy teaches in that case to forage on 
the foe. 

Several days' walking brought us to Farmington, a pretty place 
on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Here we stopped at the 
house of Mr. Freeman, a devoted Southerner, who gave all the 
assistance in his power. At this point all of our plans, which had 
worked so well, were changed. It had been our intention to keep 
straight along the track of the railroad, and secure in our dis- 
guise, not leave it until we should be in Virginia. But Mr. Free- 
man explained that it would be impracticable to reach Cumber- 
land even by walking, as there would be several bridges to pass 
which could not be flanked. To cross on foot would result in 
certain detection and capture ; for all these bridges were gar- 
risoned, and no one was permitted to pass without having first 
been subjected to a rigorous examination. Should a particle of 
suspicion attach to the words or actions of any one, he was at 
once arrested and sent to the provost marshal, to either clear or 
criminate himself. 

"The only plan open for you," continued the host. " is to take 
the regular train to Cumberland, and from there make your way 
across the country south. Leave the track, by all means, if you 
do not wish to be discovered to a certainty." 

"But we have no money," we urged. 

"I will give you ten dollars, which will be sul^ficient to take you 
to Cumberland," replied our kind friend ; "after that you will 
have no further trouble." 



496 JOHNNY RKB and BIIvIyY YANK 

The next night we went on several miles, and took the train 
at Lymington Station for Cumberland. The whistle sounded and 
we were soon bowling along at the rate of forty miles an hour. 
We had frequent cause to congratulate ourselves that kindly fate 
had sent us to the house of Mr. Freeman, for at every bridge we 
passed were sentinels at both ends, besides squads of home- 
guards, who were constantly patrolling the road and arresting all 
suspicious persons. This was in consequence (so the conductor 
of the train told us) of several attempts lately made by Southern 
citizens to burn the railroad bridges, thus severing for a time 
communication between points on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
road. 

At midnight the train stopped. 

"Cumberland !" sang out the brakeman as the cars reached 
the platform. The weather during the last two or three hours had 
taken a sudden turn. A strong northwest wind had brought an icy 
blast which chilled everything and whirled the blinding snow- 
flakes in a wild dance through the air. It was as dark as pitch — 
yes, it was a wild night; the wind was increasing in fury every 
minute, sending the drifting, maddening snow flying through the 
streets. 

The weather was fearful for us, who had not so much as a 
blanket or overcoat; nothing but those rags over our gray jack- 
ets, which seemed to give fluttering entrance to the cold, rather 
than to keep it out. The streets were choked by the flying mists 
that were whisked by the gale into every nook and cranny, and 
almost froze the marrow in our bones. The very lamps flared and 
flickered, and the congealing frost deadened their gleam and 
made them look like waning, waving torches. 

A bitter night for the poor soldier on picket, who stands with 
his back to the blast ; a cruel night for the sailor hanging to the 
shrouds as he reefs the sails ; a cursed night indeed for all out- 
casts or unfortunates. 

We had the name of a relation, a noted Southerner, who 
had supplied us with clothes and money at Harper's Ferry. Af- 
ter knocking up several housekeepers at different houses, for it 
was midnight, and alarming their families, we found the object 
of our search. 

We were ushered into the parlor, ablaze with light and bright- 
ened by gleaming anthracite. The curtains were closely drawn; 
the red velvet of chairs and sofas offered enticing, bewildering- 
welcome to our stiffened, all but frozen forms, which sank into 



THE SECOND ESCAPE 49/ 

the depths of their loving embrace. Pictures, mirrors and books 
formed a home scene which the eyes of the wanderers had not 
beheld for many a sad day. Over all gleamed the red flames of the 
fire-light, casting bright tintings into every corner, reflecting 
itself in the many polished surfaces and filling the air with a glow- 
ing heat which pervaded every sense. 

A greater contrast to the howling tempest without could not 
be imagined. 

The host entered. We told him the piteous story of our past 
hardships. He really seemed touched, for he was a warm-hearted 
man, whose every sympathy was with the cause of the struggling 
South. But just then his mother-in-law appeared upon the 
scene ; across her face shone no tender light of compassion. She 
heard our story of suffering, without change of attitude or the 
blinking of an eyelid, and then we finished and waited. The van- 
quished warrior in the gladiatorial arena met with more pity 
watching for the uplifted finger of the Roman patricians. As 
well might one of the old Noblesse beg mercy at the hands of the 
Tribune of the Sections. It was the same old story : asking bread 
and receiving a stone. She informed us that her son-in-law had 
taken the oath of allegiance and to help us was to break his word, 
and he would be ruined. 

Fortunately for us there was a noble, true heart in the house ; 
an angel of mercy indeed ; and as we were passing from the 
brightness to our death, all that sweet grace of tender woman- 
hood found vent. As we reached the door the young wife came 
to us with tears raining down her fair cheeks, and pressed into 
my hand a roll of money, saying it was all she had. Then we 
stepped across the threshold into the darkness. The snow struck 
blindly in our faces; the storm was at its height, but the little act 
had put sunshine into our hearts and hope into our souls. 

After a hurried consultation we decided to get into the coun- 
try at once; for Cumberland was a dangerous place in which to 
linger. 

Nothing but the severity of the storm kept the guards from 
patrolling the streets. We struck for the open without delay 
and at haphazard. It was so dark that we could not see each 
other, so hand in hand we followed a street which led out of town. 
At last we came to a high hill ; we reached the top and stumbled 
on, not knowing where we were. Oh it was cold ! Down that hill 
with the snow up to our knees, up, up a mountain, where we 
groped until the summit was reached, then down again until a 
32 



498 JOHNNY REB and BIIvL,Y YANK 

clearing was entered and the end, we felt, was not far off. Our 
limbs were inert, bodies numbed, while the stupor of death was 
upon us. At last we ran against a small house, and feeling care- 
fully around discovered a door. We knocked and waited. No 
sound, no light flickered through the windows at the summons. 
We kicked harder, still no sign of life was vouchsafed. Getting 
desperate we tried the door; it yielded and we passed in. Strik- 
ing a match and looking around we saw that the tenement was 
unfinished. The plasterer had just commenced his work upon 
the walls. With hardly enough life left to make exertion of any 
kind, by mere strength of will we collected planks and sticks and 
built a fire and sat cowering over the flames in fitful slumber until 
daybreak. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

CAPTURED AGAIN. 

The next morning the storm had ceased ; the sun shone coldly 
upon the white expanse. Looking cautiously out of the window we 
saw there no need to fear detection, for the shanty stood isolated in 
the middle of a big field. It was a wonderful stroke of luck which 
had turned our wandering steps to that spot, when for a mile around 
was a desolate waste. 

"It is because you struck that tree,'' said Robinson, "I've never 
lost heart yet; if you had missed it when you tried your fortune 
on the canal boat, I would have despaired long before this." 

But what was to be done now? I wished to heaven that men 
had been born without stomachs. We could get along very well 
if we did not have to run the risk of detection by hunting for food. 
I'll be hanged if a soldier's life isn't for all the world like that 
greedy boy in the "Tanglewood Tales :" 

"Victuals and drink, victuals and drink 
Were the only things of which he could think." 

In truth the day was half done, we had burnt up all the loose 
timber in the house ; a roaring fire went up the new chimney, and 
so it was warm enough ; but there was no cupboard even for old 
Mother Hubbard to look for a bone. 

Another council of war was held, in which it was decided that 
the idea of crossing the Alleghanies on foot was altogether out 
of the question, and then there was the Potorhac to be gotten 
over before danger could be overcome. After my experience at 
Monocacy it was not probable that we would try a raft again. 
We had money and would take the night train to Duffield Station, 
in Virginia, or if that should prove impracticable, try Sir John's 
Run in West Virginia and strike for Winchester. 

We sat patiently waiting for night. The wood had all given 
out. Next the carpenter's saw-horse fed the fire, then the flames 
devoured the window frames, and as the fiery element sank into 
a mass of glowing embers, we looked around for more fuel but 
there was none. We were not going to freeze as well as starve, 
so we jerked and pulled down the stair-steps, which furnished 
food enousfh for the fire. Soon the night came on ; the skv had 



500 JOHNNY REB AND BII^IvY YANK 

clouded, boding another snow-storm not far off. In the loyal city 
of Cumberland, some two miles away, began to twinkle lights 
one after another. The hours now dragged by with leaden heels, 
while we anxiously waited for midnight. Minutes seemed hours 
— days, as we sat there over the dying coals, for we were afraid 
to let the fire blaze at night lest it should serve as a beacon to 
guide inquisitive people in our direction. We presented a picture 
of absolute misery. 

All things must come to an end at last; and even this com- 
fortless, dreary day was numbered finally among the things that 
were. When the midnight stroke smote the air it found us 
safely hidden under the platform at the depot. The train was 
behind time, so creeping out like a couple of rats bent on obtain- 
ing refreshment, we hied away in the friendly darkness to a res- 
taurant near by, and ate as if we were bent on committing suicide. 

About one o'clock the rumble of the approaching train warned 
us to be ready. Getting on the off side of the track, we managed 
to elude the guard, whose attention was drawn by those entering 
from the platform in the regular way. In the short time it took 
us to duck in through the open door we saw that the snow had 
commenced, and the platform, but freshly swept, was covered an 
inch deep. 

It had been so cold outside, and was so warm and comfortable 
within ; the motion of the cars was so soothing, that in spite of all 
determination, in defiance of a most resolute will not to go to sleep, 
the drowsy god slowly wove his spell. The form of the passenger in 
front began to change shape, the swing lamps danced a jig; a thou- 
sand fancies flitted through the brain ; the lulling sound of the roll- 
ing train became fainter and fainter, and sleep at last claimed us for 
his own. 

Our dreams were rudely broken. 

"Station !" sang out the conductor, putting his head in at the 
door, then out again, slamming the door after him, as conductors 
are wont to do to prevent puzzled passengers from asking ques- 
tions. 

Thus suddenly startled, we did not catch the name, but thought 
it sounded like that of our destination, so with brains in a whirl, 
and only half awake, we jumped from the train. 

We were in the midst of a Yankee camp. 

The sight woke us fully, and so startled us that every faculty 
v/as roused in a moment. We looked around ; there were the 
cabins, in the dim light looking like marble in their pure cov- 



CAPTURED AGAIN 50I 

ering of snow. But not a soul was to be seen ; not a sentinel 
posted; not a lookout placed. Everything was buried in profound 
slumber. 

It did not take long to get away from that place, and we soon 
reached the mountains and commenced our journey. Where we 
^^ ere or at what station we had gotten out we did not know. In 
dense ignorance we groped along, the driving sleet cutting our 
faces like the sting of whips. Blindly we moved on, for there were 
no roads nor paths ; the night and the snow hid everything which 
could have served to guide. With the gait and the action of men 
without sight, we moved up an acclivity and down another, falling 
headlong, sometimes sliding off slippery rocks. At last we be- 
came lost in the compact laurel brakes, that were as dense as a 
swamp or morass of weeds, and as navigable as the Cretan laby- 
rinth which puzzled Theseus with all the gods to aid him. We 
lost all idea of direction; plunging onward, gliding, slipping, 
pulling ourselves up the sides of perpendicular chasms by the 
branches of the laurel which covered them, then moving onward 
with involuntary velocity and falling at the imminent risk of 
breaking our necks; fording ice-cold streams, undergoing, in 
short, superhuman exertions, with aching heads and shortened 
breath, until we felt it was useless to struggle against an adverse 
fate, and that it would be better to lie down and let the snow 
cover us. 

Our hands were bleeding, our rags were torn, and the snow 
rested upon the bare skin. It was intensely dark in those thick- 
ets; men had often been lost in their depths in broad day- 
light and never been found. In the night it was appalling, grop- 
ing as it were in a dungeon or a vast coal mine. The snow had 
filled up and hidden all hollows, into which, blindly staggering, we 
would plunge at every other step, sometimes ankle deep only, 
and then again up to our waists. Not a sound broke the dead 
stillness but the crunch of our feet upon the snow. 

The brains of both seemed at last to give way, and fancy played 
wild tricks. Imaginary lights gleamed amid the dense foliage; 
sweet music lulled the senses into perfect rest; voices shouted 
to us; then, as soon as we moved, the overtaxed muscles would 
bring a throb of physical pain, the illusions would vanish, and the 
same sullen silence reigned supreme. 

We both felt that we were straining our powers to the utmost, 
and that the endurance of man had a limit. 

"One more effort," said Robinson, "but one more ; don't let's 



502 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

give up, for you know fate has told us that we are bound to es- 
cape. You struck the tree, remember that, old fellow ! So cheer 
up and make one more trial !" 

The trial was made in vain ; the same toiling ascent, the same 
dangerous descent, and the same tangled, almost impenetrable 
thicket. Hope died out at last ! The faith which had remained 
through all our days of hardship now folded her wings and left 
us. Desperation and despair usurped her place. 

There was nothing now to hope for in life. 

I managed to scratch a match on my knife blade and by its 
fitful light we looked into each other's faces; pale faces they 
were too. 

"Let's make a fire and sleep here," proposed Robinson. 

We tried to kindle one but could not. The frozen fingers 
would hardly hold a match, and there was no wood, only the 
green laurel sticks and leaves, which would not burn. The 
matches gave out, the last one glimmered on a look of despair 
in the eyes of each, and then darkness ! 

"I have seen the last of you, old comrade,"' said Robinson, as 
he laid himself down to die. 

Death, at times, loses its terrors. The fearful unknown is 
not thought of, or if remembered, it is as Virraud, the leader of 
the Girondists recalled it : "In a few moments I shall know the 
great secret. All that has been shrouded from hidden eyes is to 
be made plain at last." So feel many men close within the Great 
Shadow ; no more doubt, no more mystery ; the profound secret 
which has filled mad-houses with ravings ; which invoked the 
scholarly genius of Locke ; which stopped from self-slaughter the 
hand of the thinker Hamlet ; which occupied the mighty mind of 
Shakespeare ; which filled the great intellect of Voltaire with 
wondering awe ; which overthrew the reason of Swedenborg, and 
set at naught all human speculations, all human understanding — all 
will be as clear as the sun in heaven to those who have eyes, as 
distinct as the sound of the tempest to those who have ears. 

To the soldier who loves danger and braves death, the King 
of Terrors has lost his sovereignty. Familiarity has bred con- 
tempt; and so when his majesty does approach in any guise, he 
is received as a matter of course, and taken by the hand with no 
fearful shrinking or dread. Azrael passes over the camp very 
often in his fatal flight, and his form is too well known to be 
greeted with dismay and outcry when he stops before the door 
of some tent and beckons the chosen one. 



CAPTURED AGAIN 503 

It is the most dreamy, contented feeling in the world to yield to 
the stupor of cold preceding death. No pain is felt. aU that is 
past; and only a supreme, immeasurable repose overtakes the 
numbed nerves and quiets them like unto a narcotic. The great 
future of Eternity is thought of with wondering inquisitiveness, 
but no fear. It is like a little child going to sleep on a journey 
and wondering where it will wake on the morrow. Idle thoughts 
and speculations flit through the brain as to who will find the 
body, what they will say, how they will act, where the grave will 
be, if any one will grieve very much, who most will miss the ab- 
sent form as the days go by ; but withal there is no concern felt, 
nothing but lapsing peace, and finally unconsciousness. 

So we, "comrades in death as in life," lay with dazed senses and 
let the time pass on, dying from exhaustion and cold. 

Suddenly Robinson sprang up. "My God!" he exclaimed. "I 
hear a dog barking." 

It was true, there was no halluciiiiation nor delirium this time. 
Clear and distinct came the loud yelp of the house-dog not a 
quarter of a mile away. We were effectually roused, and got on 
our feet with dilTficulty, stumbling toward the sound. It never 
failed us and, more dead than alive, we reached the house, a small 
shanty standing on the side of the road. With barely strength 
enough to knock, Robinson fell in a dead faint on the threshold 
as the door was opened by its owner. Together we pulled him 
inside ; in the warmth and comfort, Robinson opened his eyes 
and sat up. ' 

The owner of the house was an Irishman, and as all of that 
nationality had invariably been our friends, we imagined that in 
this case it would be the same, and naturally told the truth. He 
did not seem surprised, and merely said that we were safe under 
his care. 

He then called up his two daughters, who were sleeping in the 
next room, and told them to prepare a bed for the guests. In a 
short time they came in, fine-looking, winsome girls they were, 
and ushered us into a chamber. From the warmth of the couch 
we shrewdly suspected that it was the identical bed so lately va- 
cated by the two young Irish lassies. 

"Well !" exclaimed Robinson, nestling down into the soft 
depths, "this excels all the kindness we have yet received, get- 
ting out of their own warm bed to give to us. I hope the Lord 
will bless such generous hearts." 

That morning was the 3rd of March, 1864. and the early hours 



504 JOHNNY REJB AND Blt,t,Y YANK 

had merged into high noon when we were awakened by a rap- 
ping upon the door and a voice bidding us get up. When we 
entered the adjoining room there was a nice breakfast smoking 
hot upon the table ; and the manner in which those edibles were 
demolished made those girls stare. 

"Where is your father?" we asked. 

''O, he is only gone to a neighbors, and left word that you 
should not leave until his return," was the immediate rejoinder. 

We sat by the fire and chatted, telling them of our own sunny 
home, when in walked the gallant Irishman, our noble host, ac- 
companied by a stranger, and both were armed to the teeth. 

"You are our prisoners!" curtly said the Irishman. 

Two wearied, exhausted boys, more like the incarnation of 
famine than anything else ; so weak that they could hardly walk ; 
and with unhesitating trust and childlike confidence had told their 
woeful tale ; who had thrown themselves upon the generosity of 
their host ; who had rested beneath his roof, and were even then 
sitting upon that most sacred spot on earth, the family hearth- 
stone, had been betrayed and given over to their enemies. 

Prisoners again, and so near home too, it was cruel luck ! 

The house of this man was only two miles from Berkeley 
Springs, West Virginia. 

"What is your name?" asked Robinson. 

"What's that to you?" roughly rejoined the man. 

"I only wanted to remember it in my prayers, that's all," was 
the answer. But the devoted patriot refused to give it. 

"Get up!" he said, "and come on." 

We rose, drew on our shoes and prepared to depart. 

"Where are you going to take us?" I asked, addressing the 
Irishman, who was standing sullenly apart. 

"To Sir John's Run and deliver you to the garrison there." 

"One moment, sir!" cried Robinson, his wan, pallid face 
lighted by eyes which flashed in the intensity of his anger. "You 
are an Irishman ! It seems incredible ; for through all our long 
pilgrimage and wretched wanderings we have never met one who 
failed to give us words of kindly comfort, and cheered our hearts 
by sympathy, and we have met many. This was why we trusted 
you. Among all that noble-hearted race, North or South, I know 
of no man who would not die before he would do what you have 
done!" 

The Irishman drew his hat over his eyes and slunk back. The 
two girls, during the tirade, had stood side by side on the hearth, 



CAPTURED AGAIN 505 

very pale and silent. As we turned to go, I faced them and said : 
"I had thought that in the presence of a woman I could feel 
safe; and yet you have beguiled and betrayed us as basely as your 
father has done. One hint, one word from you and we could have 
put miles between us and that man. It would have been a greater 
kindness had you let us die last night outside your door." 

The women looked at us with white, startled faces, but replied 
not a word; and as we left the house, I gave a last look back- 
ward; the door was wide open and I saw the younger girl with 
her head on the table, crying as if her heart would break. 



CHAPTER XV. " 

SIR John's run. 

With our hospitable host leading, and the tall mountaineer 
bringing up the rear, we started for the nearest Federal garrison, 
a station on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, about three miles 
distant. It was a clear, frosty morning, and the whole landscape, 
clad in two feet of snow, gleamed like the iridescent opal, in the 
first blush of the rising sun. 

We passed through a watering place know as Berkeley Springs, 
and the memory of the many mountain and other summer resorts 
1 had often visited in the past stood out in sharp contrast to my first 
visit to this pleasure resort. No stage coaches with mettlesome 
liorses and blaring horn, no welcoming landlord, no obsequious, 
grinning darkies to show the way ; as Mr. Toots would say, "Quite 
the contrary." We passed through the place without meeting a 
soul, and inside of an hour reached the station and were delivered 
to the ofificer of the day. The Irishman told him the events which 
led to our capture, and that we were escaped Rebel prisoners. 
As he turned to go, Robinson made him a low bow, and said that 
if Harry Gilmor or Mosby ever heard of last night's proceed- 
ings they would hang him from the lintels of his door post. 
I ironically bade him good-by, and told him that I regretted hav- 
ing no money with me to pay him for his most kind entertain- 
ment. He scowled and went his way, and we were then placed 
in the guard-house ; a habitation, by the way, with which we had 
become strangely familiar of late. 

The station of Sir John's Run is of peculiar topography : it is 
situated on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, about twenty miles 
west of Martinsburg. The place is of contracted proportions, 
being sandwiched between the Potomac River and the Alleghany 
Mountains, which run parallel about forty yards apart. In the 
narrow plateau between the mountains and the river ran the rail- 
road close under the beetling clififs which rise abruptly. 

On one side of the railroad, and scattered along the banks of 
the stream, were the huts and tents of the garrison, which having 
been detailed to guard the post had gone into winter quarters. 
The guard-house in which we were confined was situated directly 
on the steep bank of the river, which flowed swiftly by, some 



SIR John's run 507 

twenty feet below. The chimney was built close to the bank, 
while the entrance faced the railroad track. This structure con- 
sisted of old railroad ties placed upright in the form of a circle 
and roofed over with canvas. The door was merely a flap of the 
same material, which hung over the entrance in folds. The 
chimney was about ten feet high and very broad, and was con- 
structed roughly of stones of all sizes cemented with dried mud. 

The only occupant hitherto was an Englishman, who had been 
arrested on suspicion, but awaited a speedy release, as there had 
been nothing found to criminate him. 

All day we remained in the guard-house, sitting by a blazing 
fire, and surrounded by officers and men, who asked questions with- 
out number. 

This command of the Fifteenth Union West Virginia Infantry 
was the finest body of men we had ever seen in the Yankee 
Army; men of superb physique, with that neat, proud, self-reliant 
air which bespeaks the true soldier. They were veterans of 
many a hard-fought field, and were of course kind and friendly to 
fallen foes, as brave men ever are. We were neither searched 
nor subjected to any indignity; and all that day received many 
little tokens of good will from the boys in blue. We appreciated 
the day of rest and the ample meals; the over-wrought nerves 
grew quiet, the strained muscles relaxed, and the mind became 
alert, and hope, so lately dead, rose like a hardy plant that blooms 
all the brighter for having lain dormant. 

That night as we sat smoking our last pipe before turning into 
the bunk, which was built for two but accommodated three by a 
tight squeeze, we made our plans, all indefinite though they were. 
As yet we were in profound ignorance as to our ultimate fate, 
but trusted that we might be unconditionally released. If not, 
then we would stand the hazard of the die again. At present 
what both needed was a long rest and plenty of food, both of 
which could be had for the taking; but unless something unto- 
ward should prevent, we resolved to strike for freedom again 
before another twenty-four hours should have rolled by. As we 
sat listening to the murmuring of the water, how we wished that 
the great partisan leader Mosby would swoop down like a hawk 
in a barnyard and liberate us, and — well, if the truth must be told, 
hang the damned Irishman from the lintels of his own door. 

The next morning we felt refreshed and began to examine our 
surroundings, and see what were our chances of escape. One 



5o8 JOHNNY REB AND BIEIvY YANK 

glance was enough to show that an attempt to leave that room 
would be almost like tempting death. 

The guard-house was about the size of any small apartment, 
say eighteen feet across. It had no windows and only one en- 
trance, in front of which, on the inside, stood a sentinel night and 
day, who watched every motion of the prisoners in his charge, 
and could hear every word spoken. Any attempt to force a way 
past him would be sheer madness, as a single out-cry would bring 
the sergeant and the entire guard to his assistance. The walls 
were of solid oak sleepers, the floor of plank, which precluded any 
idea of cutting or tunnelling a way out, even had it been possible 
to evade the guard. The chimney was wide enough to climb, 
provided of course no one would disturb us in the attempt, and 
provided also that the fire was out. But how in the name of mis- 
chief could we start on such an undertaking with that confounded 
guard staring at us? And then it was not altogether just such 
a death as a soldier w.ould prefer — being shot or bayoneted while 
in a hole, like a possum, even supposing that the smoke would 
not suffocate the victims. O, if men only had wings and could 
fly ! or were able to burrow under ground like a mole ! 

The guard informed us after breakfast that a Southern woman 
lived right across from the depot, about seventy-five yards away, 
and we decided after a few words to apply to her. It would im- 
press the minds of the officers that we had no idea of escaping, 
and had settled down into a state of complete resignation. The 
short time of trial hardly warranted the demand upon her charity, 
but we addressed her a note, which the corporal of the guard 
kindly undertook to deliver. In a short time he returned with 
five thick, warm counterpanes and a message from Mrs. Shep- 
pard asking if we wanted anything to eat. For the first time 
since the beginning of the war this question received a negative 
answer, for rations were superabundant. In the evening the 
kind, gentle lady came to see us, escorted by the colonel com- 
manding, and it was then that we betrayed ourselves — gave our- 
selves completely away. It had been easy to keep up our as- 
sumed characters with the Yankees and play the buffoon before 
them, but in the presence of a lady it was a different matter. 
Habit was too strong ; old manners came back ; we bowed as we 
were wont to do, and did our best to entertain the honored visi- 
tor whose innate kindness had made her our welcome guest. Un- 
like the good little boy in the story book, we lost everything by 
being polite, for the colonel saw at once that we were not what 



SIR JOHN S RUN 509 

we had represented ourselves to be, so he promptly, then and 
there, taxed us with the deception, and offered to let us go free if 
we would agree to take the oath of allegiance, a proposition we 
as promptly declined. Mrs. Sheppard informed us that she had 
a son in the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry of Rosser's Laurel Brigade, 
and asked us, in taking leave, to call upon her for anything we 
might wish. 

Now that our true characters were known, it needed no 
prophet to foretell the result. We would be sent to Camp 
Chase on the morrow's train, and then if we did escape at some 
remote point, we would have all the fearful journey over again. 
Such a proceeding was not to be thought of; so whatever was to 
be done must be done at once. If successful the distance to the 
Southern lines was short, and safety sure. Should we fail we 
would fall doing our best. 

Once more we rattled the dice; once more we paused before 
the cast was thrown. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE THIRD ESCAPE. 

The sun sank below the mountain tops, the last time perhaps 
for us, who in silence watched it going down ; but speculations 
were idle, so we reasoned, and proceeded to make ready. 

Two plans were open, both desperate in their chances and 
almost hopeless in their risks. 

One was to make a bold rush upon the guard, overpower, bind 
and gag him, then walk out unmolested ; each thereafter to shift 
for himself. But this was almost certain death, for a single 
articulate cry, nay, the very movements of a subdued struggle 
with the guard would give the alarm and all would be over. 
Even supposing such an attack might in the one chance of a thou- 
sand succeed, in such a bright moonlight night how could we 
pass sentries and scale the mountains unperceived? It seemed 
only too sure that we would be shot down. 

The other plan was to climb the chimney, drop down in the 
water, and either swim across the river or run along the bank, 
then cross the railroad and strike up the mountain side. This 
arrangement was almost as rash and hopeless as the other, for the 
sentinel inside would surely see the attempt, and either put his 
gun within the fire-place and pull the trigger, or else step out- 
side and give warning, when sundry bullets would be ready to 
tap the first emerging head. 

As it was with Tutchin when Jeffries, during the "Bloody As- 
size," gave him the choice of deaths, so it was with us. To rest 
supine, yield to fate — drag out a lingering life in prison, was to us 
only another form of slow, torturing death ; hence we decided on 
the latter program as ofifering, not a surer means of escape, but one 
a little less certain of defeat. 

When evening came on the sentinels placed on duty at six 
were relieved and others put in their places. It was a clear, cold 
night, with a northwest wind rendering the cold only more 
searching and bitter. The blast would often push its way down 
the low chimney, bringing with it clouds of smoke which filled 
the room, got into our eyes, and made indistinct for a while 
every object in the apartment. We coughed and wiped away 
the tears. The sentinel, more fortunate, could thrust his head 



THE THIRD e;SCAPE 511 

outside the entrance to drink in a breath of fresh air and cool his 
smarting eyes. As he did this, mysterious notes, written stealthily, 
passed between us concerning the enterprise rapidly drawing near. 

Ten o'clock! and again the guard was relieved. The tall, slab- 
sided fellow, who stood erect and vigilant inside the door, was 
replaced by a young soldier, apparently not over sixteen years 
of age. The fire was burning brightly, but Robinson had piled 
on an armful of green wood, which for a time effectually quenched 
the flames and sent a dense volume of smoke rolling up the 
chimney and half shrouding the room in darkness. A counter 
current of air blew down the chimney, and for some minutes the 
room was as dim as if lit by a torch which shone through a fog. 

The Englishman, at a sign of entreaty, well disposed to help, 
approached the youthful guard and engaged him in conversation. 

It had been settled that Robinson should take the first and 
better chance for life in the essay. I whispered eagerly, "Now! 
Now ! Keep cool, don't lose presence of mind ! Jump up ! I 
will hide you !'' 

For one instant he sat motionless, as if turned to stone; then 
his massive jaw closed with sudden resolution. One quick 
glance ; there stood the guard with his back to him, talking to 
the Englishman, who was facing the hearth, and then my comrade 
sprang up the chimney. I seized a blanket, and holding it before 
the fire as if warming it, effectually screened the movement from 
view. He mounted rapidly, coolly and deliberately. No awk- 
ward step of foot or touch of hand sent the stones rattling down, 
no hasty action betrayed his absence. As if to fix the fire, I 
knelt and looked up, perceiving only through the aperture the 
twinkling stars. His cast of the die had been thrown and he had 
won, why should the other fail? 

Just then a heavy blow was struck against the outside of the 
house, so sharp and sudden that the young guard put his head 
out to see from whence the noise came. Years later, when we 
two old comrades in misfortune met, Robinson solved the mys- 
tery ; he threw a heavy stone, that had fallen from the top of the 
chimney noiselessly upon the snow, to draw the attention of the 
guard and afford his fellow-prisoner a chance ; a parting compli- 
ment, too, to give certain sign that he was free. 

The time was at hand ; to flinch was cowardice. Outside, the 
sound of voices growing louder, then retreating as if in pursuit, 
showed Robinson's flight had been detected. In less time than 
it takes to tell, for from first to last it had all seemed only the 



512 JOHNNY REB AND BILI^Y YANK 

work of a few moments, while yet the guard was gazing into the 
night, eager in his youthful, unrestrained curiosity to learn the 
cause of the confusion, while yet the fire M^as bursting into flames, 
I jumped into the midst of the blaze and smoke and sought exit 
up the chimney. 

I have been in some warm places in my life's experience, but 
that was the hottest of all. The flames set fire to my jacket, and 
my legs seemed as if they were in a fiery furnace ; and but for 
the pair of corduroy trousers in which they were encased, 
trousers which shrivelled and cracked but did not ignite, the con- 
sequence might have been a first-class cremation. 

There was now but one idea in my mind — to get out of the 
fast-climbing flames and the painful heat. All other dangers 
were for the time forgotten. Decorous climbing had become a 
hasty scramble, which sent the soot into my eyes and stones and 
mortar down the chimney. There was no effort at secrecy in the 
desperate struggle to reach the top, only a mad effort to escape 
burning — to draw into the lungs a breath of fresh air; then let 
come what might. 

Luckily the chimney was built of large and small stones, so that 
the crevices between furnished good foothold. In a few seconds 
1 was at the summit drawing in the sweet, pure air, the coldness 
of which was as refreshing as the drop of cold water would have 
been to the parched tongue of Dives. But only for a second did 
I linger; my clothes were on fire, and with one jump I sprang 
headlong into the river, knocking off in the act some of the 
large rocks which rimmed the top, and which went tumbling 
down, with no little noise, into the fire below. Altogether the 
novel ascent could not have consumed more than half a minute, 
but it seemed hours. 

It was indeed a sudden change, from the blazing, contracted 
hollow of stones and soot into the wide, freezing river. Ugh! 
How congealing it was ! I started to swim across, but was too 
numbed and the current too strong. This same strong current 
did me a good turn, however, when, inertly trusting to its guid- 
ance, it bore me on its bosom rapidly and noiselessly amid the 
floating ice some fifty yards down stream and out of reach of the 
immediate danger of being shot. I struggled then to the bank 
and climbed up. Life now depended upon my losing no second 
in putting space between me and my enemies, so I ran along the 
shore for about seventy yards, taking tremendous leaps as I went. 
I then sank down to gain breath. After a few deep respirations 



THE THIRD ESCAPE 513 

I crawled on hands and knees across the raih-oad, and l3^ing down 
flat, rested there another short while before attempting the steep 
mountain-side, which I climbed as I had never climbed before. 
Stinging cold as it was, the perspiration ran in streams down my 
face and body, but I neither paused nor looked around until 
nearly half way up, and then behind a large rock I rested again 
to take breath. 

The scene below was plainly understood and proved most in- 
teresting. The whole garrison w-as evidently swarming around 
the guard-house like so many fire-flies upon a summer night. 
Alany had lanterns and were trying to strike a trail, and it was 
quite apparent that the camp was fully roused and in earnest in 
its search. So secure did I feel in my elevation that I was 
tempted to give vent to a long, joyful shout, but prudently re- 
pressed it, remembering the old saw, "never whistle until you are 
out of the woods." I kept on, soon reaching the top of the moun- 
tain, which was only one of the range lying between the river and 
the coveted destination. But luck was all in my favor now, smce it 
was a clear, cloudless night, and the blaze of the northern lights 
made the earth clear as day; a guide and beacon suspended so 
faithfully in the heavens that there need be no mistake about the 
route. 

Since the world began has the faithful star hung out its pilot- 
signal for all wanderers on the earth's face; but no Arab on the 
pathless desert, no Indian on the trackless plain, no early voyager 
across the seas ever hailed it with more gratitude than I, for 
whom its steady rays meant safety and liberty. There was no 
danger of getting lost in the mountain wilds, when glittering 
above the tree tops, clear and bright, the north star pointed the 
way straight home. Turning ni}^ back upon it I kept on due 
south, looking neither to the right nor to the left, and though 
every mountain side which I descended was sure to have a stream 
of water at its foot, I would plunge in and make my way across. 
Issuing from the water chilled and numb, a few moments of vio- 
lent exertion would restore circulation and bring back a com- 
fortable glow. There were four of these creeks on the route, 
and in the valley a broad stream obstructed all progress, but I 
easily swam it, and at last, guided by the lone star, level country 
was reached. 

The snow was about two feet deep on an average, but frozen so 
liard on top as to bear a man's weight, hence the intervening 
miles were skimmed over at a rapid rate, and after an hour's walk 
S3 



514 JOHNNY RE;b and BILLY YANK 

a broad turnpike was reached wliich ran south, and this I hence- 
forth kept. The cold was so intense, the wind so wintry that 
my clothes were as stiff as sheets of iron and I had need to keep 
on at a swinging trot to prevent freezing. 

The measured motion calmed the nerves and cleared my brain ; 
and speeding along in a dog-trot, I reflected coolly upon the inci- 
dents of the last few hours, marveling greatly that the guard had 
never turned his head to see, that he had not fired into the 
chimney after the first falling stone had betrayed the mode of 
exit. Surely the jump into the river must have been heard, and 
it would have been easy to have shot me. It must be pre- 
sumed that they were all taken by surprise, and that some mo- 
ments were consumed in calling out the guard, moments precious 
to a man speeding for his life. Then again the sentry inside 
doubtless lost all presence of mind, as some men are wont to do 
in emergencies, for he had only to step out, wait for his prisoner 
to come forth from the chimney, when he could have shot him. 
Perhaps the Englishman gave advice in keeping with his sym- 
pathies to the startled man, as inexperienced as his years were 
few, or in some manner baffled search for those who had enlisted 
his friendship. These conjectures and theories remain such to 
this day, for no light has ever been thrown upon the incident. 

Not a soul did I encounter throughout the long tramp, though 
I traveled until the rising sun warned me of the necessity for 
concealment. Safety was far too near and dear to risk jeopard- 
izing it by recklessness. Once, early in the night, I neared the 
sleeping camp of the enemy, upon whose beaten tramp a sentinel 
paced to and fro, his musket gleaming in the moonlight ; but I 
stooped upon the snow, and with my knife hollowed out a place 
upon which I could place my feet without fear that the crunching 
of the snow under my tread would betray me, working laboriously 
and slowly until the danger was past and I could make up for the 
delay by greater speed. 

On the left of the road, and some distance away, I came across 
an old deserted saw-mill half hidden by trees and bushes, afford- 
ing a good refuge for the day. Burrowing down into the saw- 
dust, which made a warm sort of lair, I slept till the sun went 
down, when again I proceeded in a trot all night, meeting no one 
on the route. I was terribly hungry, having fasted thirty-six 
hours, but I chewed away on a stick, resolved to run no more 
risk in asking for food unless I felt certain of the people. 

Just as day was breaking I saw a large barn across a field, and 



the; third escape 515 

I determined to lie concealed in it for another day. On reaching 
the barn I climbed into the hay mow, and making a hole deep 
down, I covered myself carefully, and in an instant was sound 
asleep. I was awakened by some one standing directly upon me 
pitching the hay to the cattle. 

It was impossible to sleep again, when hunger was so intense 
that a gnawing, acute pain made every other feeling subservient. 
At last, rendered desperate, I followed in the wake of the farm 
hand, to whose house a few steps brought us. I was kindly re- 
ceived and a breakfast prepared, which could hardly have come 
amiss after so long a fast. The family were Virginians, with 
every feeling enlisted in the Southern cause. They informed 
me, upon inquiry, that I had made thirty-five miles the first night 
and thirty-three the second, and that only a dozen miles were 
between me and Winchester. Sleeping all day, I continued my 
journey, flanking the town, and in two more nights' traveling, 
not going further into particulars, reached Confederate pickets 
at Woodstock and was safe at last. 

The stone thrown upon the banks of the Potomac was guided 
by the hand of Destiny, and the prediction, though born of super- 
stition, did not betray the faith that cherished it. 

I will close this chapter by narrating an anecdote of General 
Lee, which shows his tact and kindness of heart and tells plainly 
why the rank and file of the xA.rmy of Northern Virginia idolized 
him. 

While I was a prisoner at Harper's Ferry I met two men, dressed 
in citizens' clothes, who had been taken up by the blue-coats near 
the Ferry, and charged with being spies. They were handcuffed, 
and had been in prison some months. They said that they belonged 
to White's battalion of cavalry and gave their names, and made me 
promise, if I escaped, I would see General Jeb Stuart, state their 
condition, and get him to demand that they should be treated as 
prisoners of war. As soon as I reached the cavalry camp I went 
to headquarters to fulfil my pledge. 

Stuart was seated in a large wall tent, surrounded by his staff 
and some military visitors high in rank. They were having a 
jovial time, and twice I essayed to get past the guard who stood 
at the entrance of the marquee, but was repulsed each time. 
Stuart's eye fell upon me. and I saw that he did not like it. The 
third time, my patience being exhausted, I made a final effort, 
pushed by the sentinel, and stood in General Stuart's presence. 
He was narratins: an anecdote, and became furious at beinsf in- 



5l6 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK 

terrupted by such a looking fellow as I, for there had been no time 
to change my miniilitary attire for a respectable uniform, and in 
thundering tones he ordered the guard to take me outside the 
camp. The sentinel obeyed, and I was ignominiously escorted 
beyond its boundaries. After all I had undergone, such treat- 
ment infuriated me ; and to be arrested like a camp follower was 
too much. The next day I made a bee line for the commanding 
general's quarters near Orange Court House. A few tents on 
a hill, with the battle-flag, the staff of which stuck in the ground, 
showed where the leader of our army rested. 

An infantry guard walked lazily along his beat, but said noth- 
ing as I passed him. An orderly stood near, and I asked him if 
General Lee was in. He said that he was, and I requested him 
to tell the General that one of his private soldiers wanted to see 
him. He returned instantly with the summons to come in. 

I found General Lee sitting by a table covered with papers. 
He saluted me gravely, but did not recognize me until I men- 
tioned my name and explained the cause of my ragged condition. 
I then told him of my visit to General Stuart and its object, and 
how bitter and unjust my treatment had been. Then I broke 
down. The General heard me through, and then assured me 
that General Stuart would never knowingly have treated any of 
his old soldiers in that manner. Then he told me to say to my 
colonel that I must have thirty days' furlough to recover from 
the effect of my long wanderings. 

General Lee was always accessible. The humblest private 
found in him a kind and gentle friend ; and it is no wonder they 
followed him with absolute confidence and unbounded love. 

It is needless to add that I soon found my way to the camp of 
the Black Horse. I told Colonel Randolph of General Lee's 
request and the next day I was in Richmond. 



CHAPTER XVII 

A UTTLE REPOSE. 

No greater pleasure is known to the soldier than the warm 
welcome extended him after a long absence, by his comrades. 
Men in the army learn to cultivate feelings of esprit dc corps 
beyond the understanding of a civilian. Neither the temptations 
of business, the struggles of life which make men selfish and false, 
nor the rivalry of poHtics find lodgment in a soldier's breast. 
Cut off as he is from all the allurements of the world, the charm 
of social Hfe, the fascination of money-making, all the endearing 
joys of home, he has to look for happiness in the kindness and 
good will of his comrades. Their joys and sorrows are his ; he 
learns to look upon them as brothers ; there is no sacrifice that 
he will not make for them ; no trouble that he will not cheerfully 
take. Fellowship becomes almost a religion, none the less 
strong, perhaps, because it is the only one that some of them know. 

I speak of a fact well known at this time ; the freemasonry and 
camaraderie was much stronger among the privates than among 
the officers of Lee's army. The wealth and intelligence was, as 
a general thing, in the ranks. To the thoroughbred blood in- 
fused into the line was due the staunchness and bottom of Lee's 
men. 

Great suffering in a common cause endear men to one another. 
The officers above the rank of captain knew but little of the 
hardships of war from personal experience. They had their 
black cooks, who were out foraging all the time, and they filled 
their masters' bellies if there was fish or fowl to be had. The 
regimental wagons carried the officers' clothes, and they were 
never half-naked, lousy, or dirty. They never had to sleep upon 
the bare ground nor carry forty rounds of cartridges strapped 
around their galled hips ; the officers were never unshod nor felt 
the torture of stone-bruise. But the private of ''Lee's Miser- 
ables !" will history ever do him justice? Mad with hunger, faint 
with thirst, shivering in the cold blasts of winter, or suffering on 
a mid-summer forced march such anguish that it would have 
driven a dog mad. Yes ! he endured and suffered in a way that 
in olden times would have made him a canonized saint. Is it 



5l8 JOHNNY REB AND BIIXY YANK 

any wonder then that the soldiery had the strongest affection for 
one another? 

There was no command in the army where this feeling of 
friendship was more ardent than among the gentlemen of the Black 
Horse Cavalry. Their pride in their organization, the perils they 
had incurred together, the varied experiences of good times had 
bound them together with links stronger than steel. 

Several changes had taken place in the Black Horse during the 
past three months, that, so far as the company was concerned, w'ere 
very unfortunate. The principal change was that they lost their 
loved, their trusted captain, who had been promoted to the colonelcy 
of the regiment. 

As was remarked before. Captain Randolph was a born soldier. 
A braver man never lived. He seemed absolutely fearless, and in 
times of danger was as cool as an iceberg. He was a fair sample 
of the "beau sabre" that Stuart reared and inflamed with his own 
fiery ardor. Like Ashby, he was no strict disciplinarian, but 
ruled his men through kindness; at the same time his military 
traits made him just such a leader as daring men love to follow 
through thick and thin. It was with unmeasured sorrow that 
his troopers parted from him, while he felt most genuine regret 
on leaving the company which, under his leadership, had acquired 
V'orld-wide renown. 

He was succeeded by Lieutenant Alexander Payne, who before 
the war was a village attorney. Utterly deficient in military quali- 
fications, under his leadership the morale of the Black Horse steadily 
declined. 

The rations of the soldiers were now more adequate. The 
commissariat seemed to be supplied by fits and starts; and as 
the winter ended and the opening spring gave promise of an early 
campaign, the army received abundant supplies, on the same 
principle, perhaps, that hogs and chickens are fattened before 
they are killed. A pound of flour and a pound of meat, with occa- 
sional rations of rice, sugar, and beans were sufficient to make the 
soldier both plump and happy. 

At no time during the war was the army in such superb condi- 
tion as in the spring of sixty-four. They had become veterans, 
who had learned to have perfect confidence in themselves, at the 
same time they clung with firm faith to full assurance of ultimate 
success. There was not a private soldier in the Army of North- 
ern Virginia who did not believe that the coming year would find 
the South victorious. Each man stood ready and determined. 



A UTTLE REPOSE 519 

SO far as his own endeavors were concerned, to make one grand 
effort toward ending the matter at once. The depleted ranks 
were filled with conscripts, who soon caught the ways of their 
comrades and felt animated by the same bright hopes and fears. 
Never since the beginning of the war had the soldiers in the 
ranks ever, for a moment, despaired of the final triumph of their 
cause, regarding the Confederacy as a fact which only needed 
blood and time ; but this spring they were unusually jubilant. 
Only one more grand campaign, they thought, said, and wrote ; 
only one more great, united struggle — and then a glorious peace. 
So they laughed lightly around the camp-fires over old stories, 
and spoke assuredly of the future which held in store a grand 
reward for all they had suffered. 

What bright visions they had of the coming time of which they 
dreamed, when the loved Confederacy should reach from the 
Susquehanna to the Gulf of Mexico — from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
cific. 

And the South! What a wonderful .country it was destined 
to be ! fruitful as the exuberant and teeming Egypt and as fair 
to the sight as the Eden of old. The planter would find that the 
vast fields of cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco shipped in free trade 
to the marts of the commercial nations would pour the luxuries 
of the Old World at his feet. The seaboard State of Florida, 
with the finest ship-timber on earth, would build for the navies of 
Europe. Mines now slumbering, undeveloped, would open up 
to the light vast stores of wealth of which its people had no con- 
ception. Virginia, where runs her chain of glorious mountains, 
could supply a world with her buried iron. In Kentucky and 
Missouri, the gardens of the Confederacy, the waving fields of 
grain, ripening beneath a generous southern sun, would alone fill 
the nation's storehouses. Though the North and South would stand 
as separate and divided as if invisible walls of adamant inter- 
vened, separate in peace as in war, separate in tradition and 
council, there yet would flow the mighty Mississippi the length 
of the two domains, bearing on her bosom freighted ships which, 
sailing to and fro like messengers of peace, would heal the scars 
of w^ar and carry wealth and prosperity in their wake. Manu- 
factories would spring up, calling for skilled artisans from abroad. 
Emigrants would gather from all regions of the earth, and in the 
unnumbered, unclaimed acres of Southern States and Territories, 
find free homes and full protection. Slaves would be gradually 



520 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

emancipated, until the last one, in the course of time, would 
stand in the land of his adoption a free man. 

And the Rebel soldiers who had come unscathed from the fiery 
baptism of a country's liberty, what reward and honor might not 
be theirs? Their places would be in the midst of happy homes, 
held in grateful esteem by proud and admiring countrymen. 
And what would the South do for Lee? A king, perhaps. 

In this wise the soldier built his castles in the air and dreamed 
of a future of boundless comfort and glorious ease. | 

In Richmond the confidence was almost as high as when Lee's " 

army started upon the Pennsylvania Campaign. Even the doubt- 
ing ones, who had begun to despair after the reverses of July, 
plucked up fresh courage as they witnessed the spirit and confi- 
dence of the men of the Army of Northern Virginia, and saw how 
calmly they stood, prepared for the tremendous assault. Ac- 
customed to the horrors of war, no longer shuddering at the suf- 
fering in the hospitals or the constant presence of hearses in her 
streets, having grown as familiar with the sound of the Dead March 
as of Dixie, Richmond had, during the winter, doiYed her sombre 
garb of woe and come out in all the glad witchery of her beauty 
and charm. The city was filled with furloughed officers and sol- 
diers, and starvation parties, water soirees and dry-bread balls 
followed one another in bewildering succession. There was but 
little effort of "style" at these entertainments ; officers wore their 
uniforms, with the addition of paper collars, while the ladies spent 
a world of energy and expediency in renovating a wardrobe of 
several years' standing. An old silk which had been turned and 
washed, and washed and turned, was considered a bonanza still 
to its fortunate possessor, and with varied adornments of bright rib- 
bons and crisp muslin bodies, they did good service. Occasion- 
ally a lucky member of this gay throng would receive an under- 
ground supply of raiment, all in newest Northern cut and fashion, 
which caused as much excitement in the female community as a 
wedding, and raked up lively envy in the heart of every woman 
not too old to peer at them through spectacles. A great demand 
for finery sprang up, and offered inducements to blockade run- 
ners without number. 

It would amuse a modern belle to run over a list comprising 
the wardrobe of girls of that period, who yet managed to look 
fair and bewitching. They were generous, too. in the urgency of 
the times. One bridal veil trailed up the church aisle on the 
brow of many a bride. One pair of satin slippers went the round 



A UTTLE REPOSE 521 

of intimate friends. A pair of kid gloves were nursed as tenderly 
as an infant, and — but it is needless to pursue the subject further. 

With ten dollars about the value of ten cents in currency, it will 
readily be seen that new clothes were not drugs in the market, 
and whereas it would take an armful of notes to buy even a calico 
dress, new calicoes were not plentiful. Hoarded gold pieces and 
silver specie found their way out steadily, to meet the demands, 
and after these were gone, there remained but woman's wit and 
ingenuity. They made their own shoes, they wove their own 
hats ; in the countrv they spun their own dresses, knit their own 
stockings, drank rye coffee, ate sorghum and corn bread, and 
made use of every device under the sun to feed and clothe them- 
selves, the while praying for the Confederacy. 

In Richmond the dancing went on for all that, six nights in the 
week, and sometimes as many as three parties a night. No mat- 
ter if one of yesterday's festiv^e crowd was a corpse next door, the 
insatiate dancers had no time to pause or think — or care ! Death 
had been far too common in Richmond for such mock sentiment! 
Why ! could you not look from your windows and see hearses 
passing every hour? Oftener with no carriage following the 
hearse, proclaiming that the dead man was a soldier for whom 
nobody cared. What mattered it? Time was fleeting and 
youth comes but once ! Men and women were not heartless, 
only hardened. 

Such old croakers as the Richinond Bxauiincr, which found 
fault with the world in general, would lift up voices against it and 
say that merriment at such a time reminded one of the dancing 
of maniacs on board a doomed and sinking ship. But who cared 
to read such mutterings of coming storm? 

General Jeb Stuart once said to a roomful of ardent dancers 
who had held high carnival all night : 

"Dance away, young ladies; half of these young men will be 
dead or wounded next week." 

April, that month of fickle temper, had come; the grass was 
green, the buds beginning to burst into flower and leaves, and 
the air was laden with the perfume born of the season. 

The skies were blackening with heavy war-clouds rising from 
the horizon, and none could tell exactly at what spot the tempest 
would burst. All furloughs were revoked and orders issued for 
soldiers to join their commands at once. So with many a tender 
parting, the boys in gray started for the tented field, ready for 
the issue again. 



r22 JOHNNY RSB AND BII.I.Y YANK 

Many a Troilus looked into his Cressida's eyes for the last 
time. Many a Penelope was doomed to spin her web in silence, 
waiting for the absent Argonaut. 

Grant's guns were soon to be heard boommg, and then— Lrodi 
what a mustering of gray- jackets there would be. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

ON THE FISHING SHORE 

Under orders, a squad of the Black Horse, which had been en- 
joying the attractions of the Rebel Capital, returned to camp. 
We reached our destination one raw, blustering evening, when the 
scene was not calculated to enliven the spirits of those fresh from 
the charms and comforts of the winter city — its anthracite fires, 
its blockade cigars, and its fairest daughters. 

The Black Horse were camped in open woods in Culpeper County, 
There was not a tent in the whole command. The men sat round 
their poor fires, for a cold, piercing wind had sprung up, and with 
whirling smoke nearly blinding them, tried to keep warm. 

The horses, tied to stakes and limbs of trees, stood shivering, 
with drooping heads and hair turned the wrong way as the keen 
blast whistled over them, whinnying plaintively whenever they 
perceived their masters sauntering by, or caught sight of them 
around the fire. A cavalry horse soon acquires a keenness of 
smell and vision not excelled by a dog, and can pick out his 
owner from among a thousand. 

The nights were as bad as the days. Two weeks of luxury 
will spoil the hardiest soldier for a short time. Curling ourselves 
in blankets, with a protruding root of a tree for a pillow, it was 
only broken rest which came to us — only a kind of doze, which 
is often more disagreeable than utter wakefulness. 

A bright idea struck General Wickham, brigade commander of 
the cavalry, and when a military idea got into his head without a 
surgical operation it was generally a very good one indeed. It 
v.as to eke out rations by supplies of fresh fish from the Rappa- 
hannock River. Owing to the absence of all nets for two years, 
its waters were full of fish, from the savory shad, the catfish with 
a mouth hke a prima donna, the eel as slippery as a lawyer, down 
to the little sunfish. 

Anything savoring of novelty or adventure was eagerly hailed 
by the men, so there were plenty of volunteers. It was a joyous 
crowd that found themselves on the fishing detail, and they set 
out without delay for the shore near Port Royal. The Commis- 
sary, long life to him, fearing that exposure to the air and water 
would ruin the health, issued a plentiful allowance of North Caro- 



524 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

lina whiskey to the happy few, which, it is needless to say, was 
not wasted. 

Three weeks were spent on the shore. There was an old 
seine full of holes, or rather full of rents and fissures, with which 
tlie fishers cast, with faith like Peter's, for the denizens of the 
deep ; but whether it was because the men were unskilled, or 
whether the fish had not sense enough to stay quiet after they 
had been caught, will never be satisfactorily explained ; certes, 
the catches would have made no man rich in the plenteous, piping 
clays of peace. Our detail got enough to fill their own stomachs, 
which was about all. It was a glorious life; plenty to eat, we 
attended to that you may be sure, and the work was not severe. 

The visions of shad-bakes and fish-frys indulged in by the 
whole ca\alry division must have been ecstatic, for in three days 
after the fishing had begun there came rumbling down the road 
a train of empty wagons half a mile long, intended for the loading 
of the fish which were supposed to be waiting to be carried back. 

The wagon-master rode up to Sergeant Reid. who commanded 
the party, and the following colloquy ensued : 

"Well. Sergeant, what luck?" 

"Tolerable." was the careless answer. 

"How did the seine work?" 

"Tolerably." 

"Well, Sergeant." said the impatient wagon-master, "I reckon 
we had better load up now. for I've got to get back to camp 
before morning. By the way, where's the fish?" 

"In the river." 

"Look here," said the irate master. "I'm tired of this fooling. 
I came after the fish, and I am bound to have them." 

"All right," said the sergeant, "you shall. I say ! one of you 
boys go down the bank and bring the barrel here! Make haste, 
for the wagon-master is in a hurry." 

The barrel was brought and found to contain six herrings, one 
snapping-turtle. two shad, and one eel. 

"Here," said the sergeant, "are all the fish on hand; you are 
welcome to them." 

"Is this all?" asked the wagon-master in blank dismay; for he 
had been cherishing certain piscatorial hopes of his own, and was 
at that moment, as he leaned over the barrel, undergoing a few 
personal disappointments. "Are those all?" 

"Every one." responded the sergeant. 

"Well! if these are all, I'll be d if it is not a lazy and a 



ON THE FISHING SHORE) 



D-D 



greedy set you have here ! After this, the quartermaster had 
l3etter send a wheelbarrow instead of a division train. That's 
all!" 

"You needn't get mad about it !'' soothingly put in one of the 
detail. 

"Mad ! it's enough to make a saint swear." 

'*It isn't our fault, we can't catch fish if there are none in the 
river," said Bolivar Ward. 

"It is your fault," said the master, in a towering rage. "I'm 
going to let General Fitz Lee know it's the laziest crowd that 
ever lived. I could get more fish in a minute, with a pail, than 
the whole confounded tribe of you have, with a half-mile seine." 

Our whiskey rations were stopped after this, but it needed no 
stimulant to increase the appetite of any man there. The con- 
sumption of fish would have astonished an alderman. It was 
nc uncommon thing for a soldier to eat two shad at one meal, 
while one of the Black Horse, Bolivar Ward, who loved the good 
things of life, could get outside of a dozen shad a day. These 
gastronomic feats were kept up as long as the party remained 
upon the shore, and no ill effects from the immense consumption 
were ever recorded. 

After the first week our detail moved several miles farther 
down the river and found a fine landing. Near by was an old 
mansion, deserted by its owner, which we took possession of, and 
located our camp permanently. We made about three hauls a 
day and then rested from our labors until the morrow. Some- 
times we eft'ected a big haul, but oftener we didn't. However, 
that was the fault of the fish, not ours. Our consciences were 
clear and our stomachs full. Occasionally we sent a wagon-load 
of shad and perch to camp, which probably graced the officers' 
messes, while the catfish, suckers, and eels were doled out to the 
privates. 

Some of the musically inclined succeeded in obtaining a violin 
and a banjo, and any belated wayfarer passing that way at night 
and peeping in through the cracks of that old building would 
doubtless have been as much surprised as Tarn O'Shanter when 
he beheld the revel of the warlocks and witches at Allen Kirk. 
The blazing firelight generally fell upon a group of soldiers 
dancing like mad and shouting at the top of their lungs. The 
fantastic shadows from the firelight made as weird a scene as one 
would care to see. 

As the weatljer became warmer, the fish were more plentiful 



526 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

and the nets grew heavier. It was not such very hard work 
either; all that we had to do was to sit upon the bank and watch 
the proceedings, for the ubiquitous African made his appear- 
ance. They came in all stage^ anywhere from the hoary-headed 
patriarch to the bow-legged darky of ten summers, and would 
do all the work for the privilege of filling their baskets. It was a 
stirring spectacle at night — the flashing of the torches, the singing- 
darkies, as they pulled in the net hand over hand. The scene was 
like a Rembrandt, half in shade and half in light. 

It is no wonder that the men forgot about war and its dread- 
ful realities, that they kept along the peaceful pursuit without a 
thought of what the future might hold in store. Everything 
seemed so calm on the banks of the lower Rappahannock. The 
carol of birds filled the air, the river rose and fell as placidly and 
regularly as the breath of a sleeping child; not a vessel of any 
kind shadowed or rippled its surface ; not even the crack of a 
random picket-shot was heard, and even the bugle was silent; those 
halcyon days were as a short time in paradise to the veteran Rebels. 

Our Sybaritic life was broken only too soon. One sweet eve- 
ning, the first of May, just as the men were preparing the usual 
supper of stewed terrapin and baked shad, a courier dashed up 
to the house and delivered a dispatch to the sergeant. It was an 
order from Brigadier-General Wickham, commanding us to break 
up the party immediately and return to camp. Futhermore, we 
were to conceal the seine in some safe place. 

"Get your horses, boys, as soon as possible," said Reid; "the 
dance has begun." 

A plaintive sigh and murmured words, plain to the ears of all : 
they came from Bolivar Ward. Quoth he : "Oh ! hard it is to give 
up my dozen shad a day, not to mention stewed terrapin and fried 
perch, for two crackers and a piece of rancid meat." 

"Don't fret, man," answered Dick Martin ; "you could not pos- 
sibly have left more than six in the river, and these knew all about 
you and left for foreign parts this morning." 

There was little time for regrets ; the seine had to be carried 
to the house of a citizen a mile away, the horses groomed and 
fed, arms and accoutrements to be put in order, so that it was 
near midnight when the troopers started for camp, which was not 
reached until the next day. Then it was found to be deserted, 
the brigade having just marched to the front. The men fol- 
lowed, and as they came in sight, stopped to shake hands all 
round. Strong were the friendships which the past three weeks 



ON THE FISHING SHORE 527 

had cemented, and sadder still would have been the farewells 
could they have looked into the future; for of the eighteen cav- 
alrymen constituting the fishing detail, eleven were killed before 
three months were over; only one of the eighteen got through 
the fearful campaign of sixty-four, unhurt. 

The game's afoot! A jovial day, my masters! only it was not 
Henry Quatre who made the cry to his plumed, steel-clad noble- 
men; but men afoot, and men booted and spurred, whose incen- 
tive was conscience, whose love was their land, whose stake was 
freedom. 

The eyes of all Christendom were turned upon this feast of 
swords — the gathering of the eagles to their prey. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE BATTI.E; OF THE WILDERNESS. 

Again, in the spring of 1864, the two great hosts confronted 
each other. The Northern army was led by a man whose name 
had ever been synonymous with victory ; wherever his banner 
had been spread to the breeze, the eagle had perched upon it. 
Thus, Grant held the faith of the soldiers and the people. The 
Rebel army was commanded by the same great captain who had 
been at its head since the battle of Seven Pines, and whom the 
men adored. Both armies had unquestioning faith in the jus- 
tice of their cause and both felt certain of success. 

The United States Government had made unparalleled pre- 
parations for the contest with a view to overwhelming, by enor- 
mous weight, the proportionately small force opposed. General 
Grant then commenced his operations on the second of May, 1864, 
by what is known as the overland campaign. 

The Army of the Potomac might well hope to end the struggle 
in one campaign ; for never had it been in such splendid condition 
as regards efficiency, morale and numbers. Hooker had de- 
clared a year before that he commanded the finest army on the 
planet; but even his magnificent hosts could not compare with 
the legions of Grant. 

The official returns of the Army of the Potomac on the first of 
May, 1864, show present for duty 120,380 men of all arms, not 
counting the Ninth Corps, which joined Grant in May, and which 
numbered 20,780, nor Butler with 18,680 more, in all 149,340 with 
which to capture Richmond.* 

The Rebel army was brimful of fight, and though out-numbered 
by three to one almost, stood in their tracks awaiting the shock with 
no misgivings as to the result. General Lee's total infantry force at 
the beginning of the campaign was 50,403, to which add the cavalry 
force, 8,727, and the artillery corps, 4,854, as given in the same re- 
turns, and we have a total present, of all arms, of 63,984; in 
round numbers 64,000 men.f 

Besides the grand Army of the Potomac, Butler, with the corps 

*These figures were taken from the report of the Secretary of War, Stanton, 
to the first session of the Thirty-ninth Congress. Vol. L, 1865, 1866, p. 3, 5, 55. 
t Adjutant-General Taylor's "Four years with General Lee," page 125. 



the: battle of the wiederness 529 

of Gilmore and W. T. Smith, were to establish themselves in an 
entrenched position near City Point and operate against Rich- 
mond, or invest the city from the south side, or be in a position to 
effect a junction with Grant coming down from the north. Rich- 
mond was to be threatened westward also, by General Sigel, who 
was to form his forces into two columns : the one of ten thou- 
sand strong, under General Crook, to move for the Kanawha and 
operate against the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad; the other, 
seven thousand, under Sigel in person, to menace Lee from the 
direction of the Shenandoah Valley. And lastly, Sheridan with 
ten thousand cavalry was to get in Lee's rear and take Richmond 
by a dash.* 

Grant's plans were carefully matured and every contingency 
provided for. The Northern Government reahzed that if this 
great aggregation of forces failed to win, then the doctrine of an 
indivisible Union was a failure. 

General Grant believed that the Army of the Potomac had not 
been fought for all it was worth, and he determined to move 
straight against his adversary, and by virtue of his superior num- 
bers, fight him day by day until he simply wore him out. His 
watchword was, advance, attack, and overwhelm the enemy 
whenever and wherever found. He announced that he intended 
fighting it out on this line if it took all summer. 

There was no science — no strategy attempted ; Grant evi- 
dently realized that to try out-manoeuvring such a consummate 
soldier as Lee, on his own ground, would be absurd. 

Although one of the greatest generals of the times. Grant will 
never be considered a master of the art of warfare. He came 
perilously near an irretrievable defeat at Shiloh, and his first cam- 
paign against Vicksburg was a failure. But Grant never lost his 
head, and his tenacity of purpose was phenomenal. His metal 
was soon to be severely tried, for his work was cut out for him 
when he entered the Wilderness. 

Lee adopted the same tactics that won him the victory over 
Hooker. He threw Longstreet's corps full upon the enemy, 
hoping to overwhelm their left wing, and but for the wounding 
of Longstreet, might have succeeded. Three days of fighting 
ensued, and Grant, finding that he could make nothing by a front 
attack, started a series of flank movements, and then it was that 

* Swinton's "Army of the Potomac," page 409. 

34 



530 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

Lee, who stood strictly on the defensive, fohowed Johnston's tactics 
in his defense of Atlanta. 

Lee's army was in the very pink of condition. It was probably 
as fine a fighting machine as the world ever saw, and the men had 
implicit confidence in their leader as well as in themselves. They 
had learned how to rush, how to retreat and how to hang on to an 
important point by their eyelids. No sooner would a line be formed 
when the enemy was near, than every man was busy throwing up a 
little mound for protection. "I ain't grudged nary a cupful of earth 
I done throwed on this here pile," said a piney-woods Georgian dur- 
ing a pause in a fire so severe that it had leveled a forest oak. 

Give Johnny Reb his bayonet and a tin cup, and he would do 
his work quicker than a professional sapper and miner could with 
pick and spade. 

It was these improvised defenses that Grant stormed in the 
slashes of Spottsylvania; and the withering fire that came from 
the depths of the woods was bewildering to the Federal officers. 
Often they would sweep the front with musket and grape before 
an attack, until it seemed as if the ground had been scraped 
by a patent harrow and no living creature was left. Then the 
columns would plunge confidently forward into the green depths, 
only to be met with a storm of lead that caused many a gallant 
soldier to take the measure of an unmade grave. 

Behind these foot-high mounds the Rebel infantry felt safe, 
and they could shoot accurately, for when a man is lying down 
he aims his best, for his gun barrel naturally follows the con- 
formation of the ground. A soldier firing, when erect, invariably 
shoots too high, and every veteran infantryman knows how loath 
he was to charge when he knew the enemy was lying prone on 
the earth. 

By a wise foresight Lee ordered the musket cartridges to con- 
tain three buckshot in addition to the ball, and the hail of buck- 
shot through the tangled bushes was like driving, leaden rain. 

Grant, perceiving that he could not force his way in a direct 
line, now tried a manoeuvre, and swung his army to the left, aiming 
to seize Spottsylvania Court House, and thus interpose his 
forces between Lee and Richmond. This step was foiled by Fitz 
Lee's cavalry, which held their ground for two days of desperate 
fighting, enabling Lee to hurry up his infantry and plant his army 
across Grant's line of march. By this movement Lee was able to 
hold the Army of the Potomac in check for twelve days, causing 
them within that time a loss of forty thousand men. (Meade's Re- 



THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS 531 

port, Rapiclan Campaigns.) The Rebel loss was not one-third so 
great, for they fought generally on the defensive, behind rifle-pits. 

On the evening of the 5th of May Grant's line of battle, from 
some misconception of orders, was fatally defective. Burnside. 
who was designated to support the Federal right wing, remained 
several miles in the rear, and the Federal flank was in the air. 
General Gordon, on the extreme left flank of the Rebel army, 
discovered this fact through his scouts, and verified it by a per- 
sonal examination. He instantly formed a plan to roll up Grant's 
army as Jackson did at Chancellorsville. General Gordon in 
his book declared that he could have wrecked Grant's army, but 
when he laid the providential opening for a decisive stroke be- 
fore General Early, that Confederate mar-plot refused his sanction. 

General Gordon, in his book ("Reminiscences of the Civil War") 
says: 

"General Early, in his book, states that General Ewell agreed 
with him as to the impolicy of making the morning flank attack 
which I so earnestly urged. Alas ! he did ; and in the light of 
revelations subsequently made by Union officers, no intelligent 
military critic, I think, will fail to sympathize with my lament, 
which was even more bitter than at Gettysburg, over the irrepar- 
able loss of Jackson. But for my firm faith in God's Providence, 
and in His control of the destinies of this Republic, I should be 
tempted to imitate the confident exclamation made to the Master 
by I\Iary and Martha when they met Him after the death of 
Lazarus : 'Hadst thou been here, our brother had not died.' 
Calmly reviewing the indisputable facts which made the situation 
at Gettysburg and in the Wilderness strikingly similar, and con- 
sidering them from a purely military and wordly standpoint, I 
should utter my profoundest convictions were I to say : 'Had 
Jackson been there, the Confederacy had not died.' Had he 
been at Gettysburg when a part of that Second Corps which his 
genius had made famous had already broken through the pro- 
tecting forces and was squarely on the Union right, which was 
melting away like a sandbank struck by a mountain torrent; 
when the whole Union battle line that was in view was breaking 
to the rear; when those flanking Confederates in their unob- 
structed rush were embarrassed only by the number of prisoners 
— had Jackson been there then, instead of commanding a halt, his 
only order would have been, 'Forward, men, forward!' as he ma- 
jestically rode in their midst, intensifying their flaming enthusi- 
asm at every step of the advance. 



532 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

"Or had he been in the Wilderness on that fateful 6th of May, 
when that same right flank of the Union army was so strangely 
exposed and was inviting the assault of that same portion of his 
old corps, words descriptive of the situation and of the plan of 
attack could not have been uttered fast enough for his impatient 
spirit. Jackson's genius was keener-scented in its hunt for an 
enemy's flank than the most royally bred setter's nose in search 
of the hiding covey. The fleetest tongue could not have nar- 
rated the facts connected with Sedgwick's position, before Jack- 
son's unerring judgment would have grasped the whole situation. 
His dilating eye would have flashed, and his laconic order, 'Move 
at once, sir,' would have been given with an emphasis prophetic 
of the energy with which he would have seized upon every ad- 
vantage offered by the situation. But Providence had willed 
otherwise. Jackson was dead, and Gettysburg was lost. He 
was not now in the Wilderness, and the greatest opportunity 
ever presented to Lee's army was permitted to pass." 

General Lee in person was on the extreme right wing, and 
with Longstreet's full corps he determined to attack and try to 
roll up their left flank and get in their rear. The Orange plank 
road was the only thoroughfare in the vicinity ; there were blind 
roads and cattle tracks that wound in and out in bewildering con- 
fusion, through scrub pine, wild plum, and black-jack sapling, 
the undergrowth so dense that one could not see ten feet ahead. 
Many of the officers advanced by the aid of the compass, for all 
sense of direction was lost when once in the jungle. 

The line under Longstreet made its way slowly and ran plum 
upon Grant's left wing, and swept everything before it. General 
Humphreys, of the Federal Army, states in his book that the on- 
slaught was so sudden and fierce that the Federal lines and re- 
serves were in inextricable confusion, but that the Rebel attack 
unexpectedly and inexplicably halted. The cause of this fatal 
halt was the wounding of Longstreet, who fell from his horse at 
the moment of victory, and as was the case of Gen. Albert Sidney 
Johnston at Shiloh, stopped the impetus of the charge and lost the 
fruits of the well-planned advance. 

The cavalry of the North outnumbered that of the South by 
two to one. It was better mounted — better armed, for it had the 
Spencer and Henry repeating rifles, and army muzzle-loading 
carbines. Its horses had abundant feed and were in good condi- 
tion, while the poor Rebel animals were forced to rely half the 
time upon what little pasture they could get on the halts, and 



The battle of the wilderness -533 

most of them, before the campaign was half over, were wretch- 
edly emaciated. But these same horses were blooded, and would 
run until they fell, and the riders were like their horses ; so in the 
sweet evenings of May, when the vivid green of the young leaves 
almost hid the white and red of the blossoms, there in the dim 
recesses of the Virginia forests the war squadrons mustered, and 
the steeds literally sniffed the battle from afar, standing with 
dilated eye and erect ear as the blare of the bugle sounded 
through the woods and the monitory voice of the cannon was 
borne in the distant mutterings. 

Our detail from the regiment found the Fourth Virginia Cavalry 
in position near Spottsylvania Court House. Everything evidenced 
to the experienced eye that a battle was imminent. In the road near 
by, ordnance wagons were pushed to the front. Ambulance horses 
were hitched ready to rush to the scene of action as soon as the 
first gun should sound. Orderlies and couriers, as well as staft 
officers, were going at a gallop. The stragglers, thinking it full 
time to disappear, were using every ruse to drop out of column ; 
dismounting, and busily examining their horses' feet, feigning 
that the girth of the saddle was broken, and lining the road on 
the way to the rear. The colonel's black cook was spurring b}' 
on his mule, more intent on getting a safe place than his master's 
dinner. 

During a halt, while the men were wiping the perspiration from 
their faces, a sudden ripple ran down the line. 

"Give way," came the cry. "here comes Major Breathed, of 
Stuart's horse artillery!" and soon the rapid hoof-strokes of the 
horses and jingling of the equipments were heard; and as the 
artillery passed along the road with the boy-major at its head, 
the sunburnt troopers arose to a man and saluted him with the wild 
Rebel yell. It was a tribute that the oldest general in the army 
would have been proud to receive, and I see again the gallant 
boy's face flush to a deeper red as he lifted his cap and rode wdth 
bared head through the lines. 

The mantle of the lamented Pelham, the greatest light artiller- 
ist of America, had fallen on Jim Breathed, the young Marylander. 
He was about twenty-three years old, but like a boy of eighteen ; 
he was muscular and athletic, with a fine head well set on his 
square shoulders : he was not what the ladies would term "a 
handsome fellow," but his character was shown in his dark gray 
eyes, which flashed and gleamed in a very striking way when he 



534 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

was roused. His voice was rich and rare, being low and deep. 
General Munford,who knew him best, wrote of him : 

"A more dashing, gallant, generous-hearted Confederate sol- 
dier never drew a sabre or fired a cannon. He was recklessly 
brave himself, and ever ready to lead his batteries where few 
artillery ofiicers would be willing to risk their guns, and then 
he would turn over his guns to the next officer under him and 
dash and lead the cavalry in a charge. While he would take 
these personal risks and would stand by his guns or his wounded 
men to the last extremity, he would never give up a man dead or 
alive if there was any possible way of carrying his body out of the 
reach of tlie enemy. He loved to hear the roar of artillery and 
to witness the flashing of the guns ; he was a splendid artillerist 
and would frequently run to a gun and adjust it and sight it him- 
self when it was not doing the work he expected of it, but while 
he 'slashed and dashed' in and out of a battle he was as generous 
as he was brave, and having been a doctor before the war he 
often ministered to the men who a short time before had stood 
up before his guns and fallen in the fight he had led against 
them." 

The Black Horse Cavalry was dismounted in a strip of woods 
a short distance from Todd's Tavern, and lay flat upon the 
ground behind a fence awaiting an attack. Between them and 
the wood half a mile away intervened a large field. Across this 
broad stretch the bullets of the Yankee skirmishers came sailing, 
giving warning of their errand by a little puff of smoke issuing 
from the woods and floating upwards until lost in air. The situ- 
ation had its charm, for the missiles did not come in profusion, but 
yet often and close enough to make the position exciting and 
string the nerves to a tight tension. As the little rift of smoke 
would rise across the way, a dozen carbines would reply and ring 
out their stirring chorus. This was returned, and the firing in- 
creased, but it was all excitement and little danger. Few were 
hit, and as the sun declined bringing out all those fresh, pure 
airs and sweet odors which seemed to have been dormant all day 
in the forest, every soldier saw that there would be no real work 
3t that time. 

It was amusing to watch some of the new soldiers as the 
bullets came singing over their heads ; they changed color and 
flattened themselves to the earth, not daring to look up. Others 
became hysterical, danger affecting them like a strong stimulant. 
They would laugh wildly, idiotically, or give a half-smothere.i 



THK BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS 535 

scream as a bullet split the top rail of the fence behind which 
they were cowering. Their relief must have been great when 
at dusk the enemy ceased firing and stopped damaging the trees. 
During the fusilade the regiment lost only ten men wounded, 
and judging from the rapid firing of the enemy, much lead must 
have been wasted in placing those ten Rebels hors de combat. 
Well, they were rich enough not to grudge it, neither did the safe 
and sound body of any Rebel there ; so in that respect things were 
equal. 

The campaign was all planned that night by the privates 
around the camp-fire, and really some shrewd guesses were made 
v>'ith regard to unfolding events. The troopers were disposed to 
grumble and curse the luck which compelled them to fight dis- 
mounted. 

It was an innovation which had crept in lately upon their old 
custom, and one which they did not like. This fighting on foot 
was making infantrymen of them, they said, and furthermore, it 
was dangerous; much more deadly, in fact, than a rattling charge 
or dashing rush. Those who had gotten transfers from the in- 
fantry to the cavalry in the belief that this latter branch of the 
service was comparatively safe, now discovered what a sad mis- 
take they had made. They found that the cavalry was called 
upon to do double service. It was no longer to be used only as 
eyes for the army, but as the mailed hand, also, which was to 
strike. They were to fight upon horseback when they met 
horsemen, and on foot when they met infantrymen, consequently 
the disgust of those timid foot-soldiers who had joined the cav- 
alry because a dead man with spurs on could not be found, was 
laughable in the extreme. Instead of being ensconced in a safe 
place, with plenty of booty and plunder, the cavalry, during the 
fourth year of the war, had become the most exposed branch 
of the service, whose ratio of loss was higher than that of any 
other. It was to be hard riding, brushes, skirmishes, combats 
and battles all the time during the campaign, with a constant 
dropping of names from the rolls, which went to make up a fear- 
ful aggregate. The cavalryman could soon hold up his head 
proudly as he pointed to a list of the dead, and continued to 
listen to the eloquent silence which answered the roll call of the 
sergeant ; a silence which told the tale but too well. 

The sixth of May was an unusually hot day for that time of 
year. The men were soon in the saddle, and then began a series 
of manoeuvres which puzzled the brain of every soldier there. 



536 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

They rode like tlie drunken sailor, "up and down and all round," 
and raised a dust in which it was almost impossible to breathe. 

"Where are we going?" was on the lips of every trooper; but 
none could answer. Each one thought there would be tough 
fighting on the morrow, for the Yankees were on hand and evi- 
dently it was not the intention of Fitz Lee to retreat. But there 
they were, riding about the country like a darky delivering in- 
vitations to a rustic blow-out. 

The Fourth did not halt until about noon, and then the troop- 
ers, opening their dusty haversacks, ate their rations of fat raw 
meat and crackers. Soon the bugle rang and the column was put 
in motion. From the right came the angry boom of the guns ; 
but as yet the small-arms were silent. Crossing a field in that 
direction, the Black Horse dismounted and were placed as sup- 
port to a section of Stuart's horse artillery that was replying to 
a Yankee battery about six hundred yards distant, and who were 
hurling their iron missiles with wonderful accuracy right into what 
seemed to an onlooker the midst of the Rebel battery. 

For the cavalrymen, securely placed in a ravine, it was a grand 
sight to watch the evolutions. It was Breathed's light battery, 
the crack guns of the Army of Northern Virginia; and the way 
they were handled by the men was a spectacle calculated to stir 
the most sluggish blood and make it run like quicksilver through 
the veins. 

The cannoneers were stripped to the waist, displaying their 
brawny arms and hairy chests. They swung the guns around as 
if steel and brass had lost their weight and were the playthings of 
the hour. In loading, the men would throw themselves uncon- 
sciously into attitudes and magnificent poses which, could a 
sculptor have caught, would have made his fame. The swelling 
muscles came out like whip-cords, denoting the hidden force of 
the frame ; every position was an exponent of the strength of 
manhood in its rich youth, while each figure was thrown into bold 
relief against the flashes of fire which darted from the muzzles of 
the gims. 

The shells of the enemy burst all around, but by a wonderful 
chance did not explode in the midst of the battery, which formed, 
as it were, the hub of the wheel, rimmed round with fire. The 
rim was a cordon of danger to cross, yet when once crossed there 
was safety to be found within. Many soldiers, especially old ar- 
tillerymen, often observed this strange fact, a torrent of hail fall- 
ing through the air, ploughing and tearing the earth to the right 



THE BATTlvE OF THE WILDERNESS 537 

and left, in front and in rear, filling the air at a distance either 
way with bursting fragments, yet not hurting a man. 

In this instance no one was wounded nor was any injury done, 
except the killing of a horse and the shattering of a caisson in 
the rear. The batteries moved off and the smoke soon drifted 
away. 

Back to the horses and a quick remounting of cavalrymen was 
but the work of a moment. The walk was increased to a trot, 
and in half an hour we drew rein in the vicinity of Todd's Tavern, 
near the position held in the morning. A long halt followed. 
The dust was stifling. The troopers sat in their saddles with one 
leg thrown across the pommel, fanning themselves with their 
hats, wiping their faces, and draining their canteens of the last 
drop. There was no sound of fighting, only couriers sweeping 
by on foam-flecked horses showed that movements of moment 
were on the eve of execution. 

Of course every man had his opinion of what was going to 
happen just there and then, but no two agreed on anything, ex- 
cept that it was a confoundedly hot afternoon, and that they 
would give a year of existence for a huge gourd of pure, cold 
water drawn fresh from the well. 

The horses stood with drooping heads, as if they were like the 
tall grass in the fields, wilting beneath the rays of the sun. 

About two o'clock the voice of Colonel Randolph sounded in 
the stillness: 

"Fourth, attention! Prepare to dismount! Number four, 
hold horses! Dismount!" 

Every three out of the file of four sprang to the ground, com- 
mitting to the lucky fourth man the charge of the horses of his 
file. Sabres were unbuckled, revolvers unstrapped and hung 
upon the pommels of the saddles, leaving each trooper armed 
with his carbine : for this dismounting meant fighting on foot as 
infantry. 

Drawing off from the road the line was dressed and the order 
given, and slowly the line started through the woods. 

The cavalry was comparatively new to this work and did not 
take to it naturally. Out of the saddle was out of its element; 
but animated with a desire to do and dare everything, the men 
made the best of the unfamiliar situation when the time for ac- 
tion arrived. They moved timidly along at first, and evidently 
felt insecure. This was but natural, for three years of their lives 
had been spent in the saddle. They had learned confidence in 



538 JOHNNY REB AND BII.LY YANK 

handling revolvers, and would charge any odds upon horseback, 
but on foot, with weapons unfamiliar, it was too much to expect 
the stolidity and steadiness of veteran infantrymen. 

The line of advance was like Hogarth's line of beauty: all 
curves. Neither did the officers understand any better than 
their soldiers how to align the ranks; still it was a superb body of 
men, who meant mischief, and they kept along pretty well. 

On our way we passed a regiment of dismounted men, who 
seemed utterly demoralized and ready to strike for their horses 
at the slightest provocation. A bursting shell had made them as 
nervous as old women. 

When the end of the field was reached, the ball opened and a 
rattling volley poured into the Confederate line. A battery on 
the left also paid it its respectful attention. 

This was quite too much for some of the troopers, who broke 
and retreated to the rear; but the majority answered with a 
ringing cheer and increased the pace to a run, loading and firing 
carbines as they went. As they were in the woods, there was but 
little damage done to either side. The noise of the attack and 
the cheering induced the foe to retreat, when the men, overcome 
by excitement, lay like dogs on a trail and all organization of the 
Fourth ceased for a time. 

The Black Horse, having in its ranks many old infantrymen, 
managed better, keeping the company intact and in line. Break- 
ing through the woods they struck a blind road, which they fol- 
lowed through a meadow. Here a battery sighted them and sent 
off a few solid shot by way of greeting, but the men were moving 
too rapidly to stop, pushing steadily on to a covert of woods in 
their front. 

"If I can not ride a horse," said one of the dismounted troop- 
ers as he skimmed over the ground, "I can at least hide behind a 
tree, and in one way or another see this fight." So he kept up 
with the line. 

It was a line which would have made Hardie or Upton want 
to commit suicide; and it surged along like an irregular, long- 
league roller which comes thundering and tossing upon the reef. 
The patter of bullets was now heard as they struck the trunks and 
branches of the trees, cutting of¥ tiny twigs, scattering the bark 
or imbedding themselves in the wood. 

A short rest was here given to enable the men to recover 
breath. In five minutes the advance was resumed for about a half 
mile, the few skirmishers in the front retreating. At last a road 



THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS 539 

running through the woods was reached, when a fierce volley 
came pouring into the face of the troop. Then each man, select- 
ing a tree for himself, used it as a breastwork and returned the 
discharge by a hot scattering fire, the combatants being less 
than fifty yards apart. 

For about fifteen minutes in the depths of the woods this close 
combat was carried on with small loss, as both parties were fight- 
ing under cover, the trees intercepting the missiles. 

Each side was armed with breech-loading and repeating rifles, 
and every man pulled trigger as rapidly as he was able; conse- 
quently there was a shower of lead coming and going. A Fed- 
eral officer upon a horse, imprudently exposing himself, went down, 
horse and all, under a volley. 

In the very midst of this contest there occurred an act of su- 
perb bravery, or rather madness, which quickens the blood in re- 
membrance ; one of those reckless, daring deeds which soldiers 
love most to dilate upon around the camp-fire, but which few if 
any would care to emulate. In a road. Rebel-lined, there dashed a 
Yankee officer, splendidly mounted and wearing the shoulder- 
straps of a captain. He evidently had mistaken the enemy for 
his owai men, and was as much startled on discovering his error 
as they in whose presence he found himself. To them the ap- 
parition was so unexpected that for a second none thought of fir- 
ing. In that time he had jerked his horse savagely around. A 
score of rifles were covering him at half pistol-shot distance, and 
as many voices shouted out to him to surrender. 

Well! did he surrender? There was hardly one chance in a 
million that he could run that gauntlet and escape. The men 
who had drawn the bead were all crack marksmen, whose aim at 
ten yards, where he was riding, was certain death. Not to sur- 
render seemed madness. Did he ? No ! he risked the odds. 
He drove his spurs deep in the flanks of his steed. A violent 
spring of the animal and he was clearing the ground in mighty 
bounds. The man bent low in his saddle. 

"Shoot him ! Shoot him !" cried the troopers, and at every 
leap of the horse the rifle-crack was heard. I happened to be 
standing in the road and I was always counted a fair shot among 
the Black Horsemen, and as I saw his rtise de guerre I sprang 
into the middle of the road, and with the muzzle of my carbine 
bearing upon the officer's head, fired. The rifle snapped. The 
horse, evidently struck by one of the many bullets, flinched and 
quivered for a second but kept well to his work. The wonder- 



540 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

fill promptitude and suddenness of the movement must have dis- 
concerted the aim of the marksman, for only the soldier's arm was 
seen to hang supine by his side, and then, like a flash, horse and 
rider were out of sight. 

Is it strange that men are fatalists? Witnessing such immu- 
nity from death, is it any wonder that the veteran comes to be- 
lieve that he cannot die before his time, and shares the faith of 
Madame de Sevigne when she declared that the cannon ball 
which killed the great Turenne was charged from all eternity to 
do that particular work? 

" 'Every bullet has its billet,' " solemnly avers the soldier. 

"But," replies the unbeliever, "what induces you to get behind 
a tree in a fight, if you are a fatalist?" 

"O, that's a matter of habit," answers the tattered gray-back; 
"a matter of habit to prevent getting hit. Fate takes no account 
of wounds, that's small work — only of death. If we protect our- 
selves against the bullet, it's because we might be riddled through 
and through and Fate wouldn't let us die before our time. 

"Why, there's — " and off the long-winded Reb will start to 
give proof of his theory; tell you how such a comrade died from a 
shot in the finger, how another recovered with a bullet hole clear 
through his chest, and so on ad infinitum, until he convinces him- 
self that his creed is correct and the only one that a soldier should 
entertain. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE BATTI^E CONTINUED. 

The men had by this time warmed up to the work before them, 
and when Lieutenant James sprang out and ordered a charge they 
answered with a will. The opposing force, evidently under the 
impression that we had received heavy reinforcements, gave 
ground and were pushed back across a swamp, fighting at evQiy 
step and inflicting upon us quite a severe loss. Through the wood 
into a miry, boggy, swampy piece of land the line advanced in 
skirmish order. 

Just then Dick Martin and I crossed the road, and as we spied 
the dead horse of the officer who went down by our first volley, 
we both rushed to it. I to secure a handsome leather haversack 
suspended from the pommel, and Dick to get the saddle, which 
was an unusually fine one, and which Dick was green enough to 
think he could bear safe and undisturbed to the rear. The rider 
lay near; he was a captain of cavalry, and a ghastly hole in his 
throat showed where he got his death wound. I unstrapped the 
haversack, which was full of something, and slung it around 
my neck. I never did a better day's work than I did then, for 
without that haversack I would have fared badly. 

We two were about seventy-five yards in advance of the com- 
pany, and noticing a Virginia snake fence near, which separated 
the forest from a field, both Martin and I crawled up to it and 
looked through the rails. One glance was enough ; the field 
was literally full of Yankees, and a line of battle a half mile long 
vvas just in motion in our direction. Dick ceased to covet the 
saddle. He threw it off his shoulders and we fled back to the 
company just as a rattling volley came from our left, killing two 
men and wounding three. I rushed to Captain Payne and told 
him that there were thousands of Yankees in our front, and that 
we had better make tracks — and make them long and fast. Cap- 
tain Payne was so nervous with this new species of warfare that 
he could not see how to get his command out. Martin also told 
v»hat he had seen to Lieutenant James, and that astute ofiicer 
had a soldier's instinct. He gave command to the company to^ 
right about face and retreat. 

There was no panic ; the men shouted and joked with one an- 



542 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

other as they sought the rear, stopping every few seconds to 
turn and fire in the direction of the wild hurrahs, which sounded 
so strangely in the woods. 

I remember watching Harold Alston, a young English lad of 
some eighteen years, who had come, no one knew how or why, 
from his far-ofif home and joined the Black Horse as a private in 
the ranks. He was standing beside a hickory sapling capping his 
carbine, when a bullet passed through his sleeve and split the sap- 
ling in two parts. It was a close call, but the young Englishman, 
who was in his first battle, never flinched for a moment ; and Ker 
Sowers, who witnessed the incident, called to Alston to lie down, 
and remarked to me : "If all Englishmen fight like that boy, no 
wonder that they have never been conquered." 

Just then a line of battle appeared on the rim of the woods 
opposite and advanced across the field. They wore the yellow- 
seamed jackets of the cavalry. Our rifles began to ring out, and 
many of them dropped, but our scattering volley only served to 
spur them up. With a loud hurrah they poured a volley in our 
direction. 

"Good-by, Black Horse!" yelled Joe Boeteller as he struck for 
the rear. 

"O, that I had wings !" said Dick Martin. 

Thrice happy were the long-legged ones. Every Black Horse- 
man discounted his record that day as a runner. Through tb.e 
Vi'oods, across swamps, into briers we tore, with the Yankees 
close behind, yelling like mad and sending pattering bullets after 
us. At last we reached a large field fully half a mile across, with 
a large farm-house in the center, and now it was neck or nothing, 
with the blue-coats not a hundred yards behind. A squad of us 
aimed for the house, and nearly crazed with thirst, struck for the 
spring. I filled my cap with water, and taking a few gulps kept 
on at a two-forty gait. Alston, the Englishman, was not so for- 
tunate; he lay down at full length to lap up the water, and by the 
time he regained his feet the foe were upon him. I saw him, as I 
cast a backward glance over my shoulder, throw up his hands in 
token of submission. That was the last glimpse I had of Alston. 

Disregarding the cries of surrender, I zigzagged as I ran, and 
when about to sink upon the ground breathless, I heard the rat- 
tling of small-arms on the farther end of the field and saw the 
blue smoke curling from behind the fence. This showed where 
our line of battle was stationed ; so making a final spurt I reached 
the fence and dropped on the ground like a log. I could not have 



THE BATTLE CONTINUED 543 

run ten yards more if all the Yankee army, with Ben Butler at the 
head, had been marching up the hill. 

The whole brigade lay in position behind the fence which 
bounded the field. The rails had been pulled down and piled one 
upon another, forming a kind of breastwork. Silence of a few 
minutes followed, and then on came the Yankees in two serried 
lines. A fierce struggle ensued; the bullets struck everywhere, 
and now and then, searching out some crevice in the rails, would 
bury themselves in living flesh. Men began to drift to the rear. 
The commands of officers were heard above the din. urging the 
line to stand firm. 

All at once a heavy volley was heard on the left, and that por- 
tion of the line surged backward. 

''We are flanked! The Yankees are in our rear!" resounded 
through the ranks, and the whole brigade gave way and in great 
confusion retired over a mile. The cavalrymen discounted their 
horses in that race. But again they were striking for reserves as 
before, not panic-stricken. They did not understand rallying on 
foot and fighting back inch by inch for hours, they were used to 
more dashing encounters; with the charge and countercharge 
they were familiar, but the dogged, face-to-face fight they had 
yet to learn. 

An interval of half an hour followed, in which the brigade was 
reformed. The men had fired so often that their faces were 
grimed with powder, and they stood like a long line of coal-heavers 
waiting to unload the next barge. About a fourth of their num- 
ber were armed with the Sharpe's rifle, manufactured in Rich- 
mond, and a more unreliable arm was never forced into the hands 
of unwilling soldiers ; they spit fire at the breech in every dis- 
charge, and scorched and blackened the flesh with the half-burnt 
powder, so that in firing the man so unfortunate as to possess 
it involuntarily turned aside his head when he pulled the trigger, 
having the while not the faintest idea whom or where the bullet 
might strike. And how they did recoil ! Shades of an army- 
mule! 

The reserves to which the Rebels had retreated were about 
a half mile back, supported by a section of Breathed's horse ar- 
tillery, the guns being in position in a field just back of the troop- 
ers, who were forming in the strip of woods. Squads of men were 
every moment arriving and taking position in the line. It was 
nearly dark in the woods at this time, and no further attack was 
apprehended. No pickets were thrown out in front, and not a 



544 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

thought of danger possessed our long ranks, which stood discuss- 
ing the events of the day and giving in experiences. Colonel Ran- 
dolph sat on his horse, his aids also mounted, the right leg of 
each thrown comfortably over the pommel of the saddle, as the 
group laughed and talked with the abandon of comrades in arms 
for whom danger had passed, when presto ! as by the wave of 
Merlin's wand the whole scene changed. 

By Mars the God of War ! What a volley ! 

About five thousand rifles discharged through the falling twigs 
and leaves without premonition, bursting upon the unsuspecting 
troopers, scattering the mould on the ground, striking musket 
stocks and barrels, ripping through canteens, and piercing with 
fearful force the yielding flesh, the balls laid many a gallant form 
low. 

Glorious, gallant Cuthbert Sowers, the pet of the Black Horse, 
fell at this volley. The shock was so sudden that for a second it 
seemed to paralyze the whole brigade and cause the men to run 
helter-skelter back a hundred yards or so ; but the officers quickly 
rallied them into a steady, compact line, and they stood to their 
work like bulldogs. 

It was a stubborn contest and a deadly one. Men were struck 
every second and a perfect torrent of lead seemed to pour from 
the muzzles of the repeating rifles. Inch by inch, step by step, 
was our line borne back by sheer force of weight. There was no 
running away ; nothing but a dogged, stubborn determination to 
give ground as slowly as possible and exact a heavy penalty. For 
a half hour there was one of the hottest fights between the oppos- 
ing brigades of dismounted cavalry that occurred during the war. 
Every tree, every sapling was marked by the flying lead, and a 
steady stream of wounded were going back. 

At last the work became too warm even to hurrah or cheer; 
the men needed all the breath they had. It was hard, silent, dead- 
ly fighting-. The combatants were in full view of each other when- 
ever the purple smoke would drift away for a few moments. The 
advance was irresistible through the woods to where our small 
reserve was stationed and breastworks thrown up for protection, 
and better than all, a section of Breathed's battery. 

As soon as we were ensconced behind this shelter, the two guns 
sent the solid shot ploughing and crashing through the trees and 
right into their teeth. This stopped the advance, but did not 
cause their retreat at first, but in a few minutes the combined fire 



THE BATTLE CONTINUED 545 

caused them to recede, and then our men advanced and ran against 
a fresh Hne and were broken to pieces. 

Nothing saved the regiment from a rout but those two guns 
of Breathed's battery. We drifted back. On each side of the sec- 
tion there was a small field to the left, and I found myself alone 
in it. Casting my eyes around I saw at a distance a long line of 
cavalry hastening toward the field. I could not tell the color of 
the uniforms on account of the dust, but I thought they were the 
enemy, so I ran to the battery and told the lieutenant that the 
Yankees were in our rear and he had better save his guns. 

His reply wa's laconic and to the point : 

"Not by ?. damn* sight 1" 

Nothing more was to be said, so I turned back to the field, 
where the rifles were spitting fire at each other. Suddenly from 
out of the woods came two dismounted Yankees, not forty yards 
distant. I took aim at one and pulled the trigger before they 
caught sight of me. Thanks to the miserable home-made rifle 
the bullet shattered the soldier's arm. He dropped his giui. and 
holding his wounded limb went back to the woods. His com- 
rade, instead of running away, fired hastily at me and sent a bul- 
let through my slouch hat. 1 banged away at him and the con- 
founded cap snapped ; then I saw the blue-coat drop on his knee 
and take as cool aim at me as if he was firing at a mark. I was 
standing sidewise to hinT, trying to force a shell into the breech. 
I saw the flash and felt a jar, then dropped to the ground. Again 
he fired; this bullet struck my boot sole and slit the upper and 
lower leather wide apart. 

I thought, "That bloodthirsty Yank will kill me yet, so I'll play 
possum," and I stretched myself out like one lifeless. Just then 
one of our scattered men, seeing me fall, ran across the field to 
help me. The Yankee fired at him just as the soldier stooped to 
jjick me up. I saw the dust fly from his jacket just above the col- 
lar-bone, and the Reb gave a howl and put back to the rear. 

Now, thought I, that Yank ought to be satisfied, he has crip- 
pled two men ; so I watched him out of the corner of my eye. He 
rose, looked around and blazed away at somebody, and then to 
my great relief disappeared into the woods. I remembered that 
the hero Wolfe at Quebec, when he was dying of his wound, 
thanked God that the enemy was retreating, and said that he 
could die happy. I am bound to confess that I lost every bit of 
my patriotism when that bullet struck me. I had nothing of the 
hero in me. It was a matter of indifference to me who won the 
35 



546 JOHNNY REB AND BII,I,Y YANK 

fight. I did not care a Confederate dollar whether "Cassio killed 
Roderigo or Roderigo killed Cassio," I was too much concerned 
about myself. Was I done for? Was I mortally wounded? 
Where did that ball hit, anyway? I unbuttoned my jacket, drew a 
long breath. Lungs all right, arm ditto, head level and unper- 
forated. I rose on my legs, or rather attempted to do so, and then 
I found where I was hit. Two round holes in my breeches legs 
above the knee showed where the bullet had gone through, and a 
warm thrill down my left leg indicated that the blood was running 
freely. 

The surgeons had impressed one fact upon the men. They 
said, "As soon as you are struck, take your handkerchief and 
make a tourniquet by tying the ligature above the wound as tight 
as it can be made; this may save your life." It saved mine. I 
was not versed in surgery enough to know whether the bones 
were shattered or not. My leg was a dead weight; I could wrig- 
gle my toes, there was plenty of room for them after that Yankee 
had ruined my boot by that last shot, and even then I remem- 
bered with a pang that I had given two hundred and fifty dollars 
for those boots. 

It was now dark and the chilling vapor of the near-by swamp 
stole over the fields. It was perfectly still ; the evening star 
burned like a lamp in the sky. I raised myself and glanced around 
hoping to see some friendly light of a relief party moving over 
the field, but nothing could be seen or heard. I essayed to shout, 
but what with yelling all the evening there was not much voice 
left. I shivered from the cold ; my leg, now swollen to double its 
natural size, pained me badly, and worse than all a consuming 
thirst possessed me, and in the passing of the long hours it grew 
worse, until the longing became torture. I would doze of¥ and 
dream of rivers and fountains, and waken with my teeth chatter- 
ing, mouth dry, and tongue like a piece of shingle. My wound 
had bled much and formed a sickening, glue-like puddle, that I 
could only wallow in, for I had not the strength to pull myself out. 
If I had only possessed an overcoat or a blanket it would have 
been less uncomfortable. Lying helpless on the bare ground in 
a light marching costume is an experience that any soldier who 
has ever tried it will never forget. 

I wondered in a dim way where the Black Horse were? 
Whether or not I was lying inside the enemy's lines — if I had been 
missed and if I were supposed to have been killed? My thirst was 
such that had a Yankee come to me with a canteen I would have 



THE BATTlvE CONTINUED 547 

looked upon him as an angel. But the night passed away, and by 
tlie time the dawn came I was envying the rigid forms that I 
knew were lying around on the battle-field, for they could not suf- 
fer. 

I was insensible when a searching party of our men found me. 
One of my comrades, Sym Green, of the Black Horse, who was 
hunting for me, came up, and seeing my condition, at first thought 
I was dead ; I was reported killed in the battle. He went back 
for his horse, on which he managed to mount me, and walking by 
my side and supporting the useless limb, conveyed me to the road 
a half mile away, where our ambulances were waiting for the 
freight. I was placed within, and with cheering words my com- 
rade rode off. 

"This is the last load that I am going to take to-day," re- 
marked the driver as he started his team. I asked him how many 
he had run. He said he had not counted them, but that he had 
driven from the battle-field to the improvised hospital at Spottsyl- 
vania Court House several times and had full loads each time. 
That many badly wounded passengers had been in that vehicle 
could easily be seen, for the bottom of the ambulance, being 
Avater-tight, was covered with the horrible crimson exudation to 
the depth of an inch or more, and the jolting over the stones had 
dashed the blood about like a miniature fountain, saturating me 
from head to foot, until I was actually bathed in the ensanguined 
fluid. Even under such circumstances one may derive consolation, 
and "it might be worse" has made many a man content and 
formed philosophers. How^ many hundreds, or even thousands, 
were that night lying dead, or mutilated beyond hope. Any 
reasonable man ought to be thankful, although every jolt was 
agony. 

The Court House, distant about four miles from Todd's Tav- 
ern, was reached at last, and the driver, taking me in his arms to 
the court-house green, placed his burden on the grass. The 
rooms of the building were already filled to their utmost capa- 
city, but he said he would bring the surgeon. 

All around in the spacious yard lay the maimed of two days' 
battle, stricken in every possible way. 

The day passed, but I lay in the court-house yard with hundreds 
of others, unnoticed and unattended. The night was glorious, 
soft and warm, and never had the stars looked so bright and ra- 
diant. The hours came and went and those nearest to death died 
in peace. 



548 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

If one must die, how grand and appropriate seemed the place, 
with the earth receiving the resting form back to her bosom and 
the ethereal, boundless space opening to freed spirits. In the 
dread, majestic presence of Death, what are earthly ties, tearful 
voices or loving words? The golden bowl breaks just the same, 
the severed cord is loosened none the less surely. There can be 
no more glorious, no happier death than the martyr's and the 
soldier's. Both sufifer, both endure, and death squares all. 

About midnight I was wakened out of a dozing slumber by an 
exclamation, and opening my eyes saw by the mystic light a 
figure bare to the waist, with clotted blood so thick that only 
here and there, in little spots, could the white skin be seen be- 
neath, I thought it some hideous dream. 

"Hunter, is that yos?" said the nightmare. 

"Yes," I answered, rubbing my eyes, "but who in the mischief 
are you?" 

"Shepherd, of the Bla«k Horse." 

I knew him well. He hailed from Louisiana, was an educated 
scholar, jovial comrade, and one of the handsomest men in the 
Army; about thirty-seven years old, six feet high in his stockings 
and erect as a pine. 

"Where were you hit?" 

"Right through my shoulder," he replied ; "bad wound, but not 
very painful now." 

"Is there no chance of seeing a surgeon," I asked. 

"No, I was brought here before sundown ; I saw thousands of 
wounded and they have been coming in ever since. There are 
but two surgeons here, and they can't begin to look over all these 
men, but I hope some of our friends will find me out soon. I 
am going to lie down, for I am faint." 

So side by side we rested, and soon fell into a troubled doze. 

It was some time in the night when the pain of the wound 
caused me to wake and struggle into a sitting posture. I looked 
around. Shepherd lay close beside me, his white face turned 
skyward ; only his regular breathing showed that he was alive. 
The heavens blazed with millions of stars, but the beauty of the 
coming morn was lost upon those unfortunates who rested upon 
the sward of the court-house green. I struggled to rise, but 
everything spun around and phantom shapes came and went. 
The torturing pains grew less and I felt myself sinking, as it were, 
out of sight, then unconsciousness followed. A shooting pain, a 
thrill of acute feeling, and a voice sounding in my ears : 



THK BATTLE CONTINUED 549 

"Is he alive?" 

"Yes, the whiskey has brought him to." 

I then became conscious that a Hquid was passing down my 
throat, and opening my eyes I saw the chaplain of the regiment, 
and the surgeon kneeling, with his finger on my pulse. 

"Fm all right, doctor, but for God's sake give me water, and 
look after Shepherd there!" 

The flask was put to his lips and he also sat up. 

"I'm going to put you two in a room by yourselves," said the 
chaplain, "in the top of the court-house, and I think we can man- 
age to carry you up. 

Taking Shepherd first, they returned, and placing their arms 
around me, carefully steered their way o^'er the prostrate forms, 
which lav almost touching one another. 

Reaching the room above, they spread a blanket upon the floor 
and laid us upon it. and the doctor, assisted by the chaplain, made 
a hasty examination of our wounds. Shepherd's shoulder-blade 
was shattered by the bullet, and the surgeon told him that it was 
not mortal but that in all probability he would never have the 
full use of his arm again. My own was a flesh wound ; the bullet 
only knocking off the end of the bone, and changing direction, 
passed upward and out. making a wide orifice and tearing the flesh 
and tendons dreadfully. 

I drew a long breath of thankfulness. In the parlance of our 
camp, I had a "million-dollar wound," which meant a long furlough 
with no danger to life or limb. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The rear-guard of the grand army. 

Both my comrade and myself felt better the next mornmg, 
especially as the surgeon, who though he had been constantly at 
work all night, yet found time to dress our wounds, and pro- 
nounced them improving as rapidly as could be expected. His 
only prescription being cold water to bathe the hurt. 

The homeopathic plan, after a battle, was the only one our 
doctors followed, whether they all believed in it or not. Cold 
water was plentiful, and no other restoring agent being at hand, 
they all became advocates of the cold-water cure. In fact, the 
medical stores were very scant. We possessed none of those 
large, roomy ambulances which the Yankees had, filled with all 
the adjuncts of the medical profession ; no "Old Sanitary" for us. 

Our field surgeon's outfit consisted of a bag, in the depths of 
which were rolls of bandages, a case of amputating instruments, 
which some newly fledged doctors used on the slightest pretext, 
if they were in doubt, just to keep their hands in, as it were. 

All the wounded were treated alike — the slightly, the badly, 
and the severely. Their wounds were bandaged with a handful of 
lint, over which was a bandage of cotton ; then a canteen of water 
was placed in the patient's free hand, that he might keep the 
cloth always wet. In the other hand was a branch with which to 
wave the flies away. 

After all, the simple treatment was possibly the safer and 
better. Mother N^ature is a kind old dame, and will heal her 
children's wounds unless indeed they be mortal. The simpler 
the remedies the surer the cure ; and the continual dripping of 
cool, clear water on the affected parts prevented erysipelas and 
fever. 

Many of our most eminent surgeons freely confessed, in con- 
versation and in print, that in hot weather clear water possessed 
greater curative powers than all the lotions in the world. Others 
of the fraternity would deny this of course, for when did doctors 
ever agree? Be that as it may, the stricken soldier had by far 
greater confidence in the efficacy of the pure element than in the 
drugs and nostrums of the laboratory. Then for suppurating 



The rear-guard oe the grand army. 551 

Avoiinds our surgeons used a porous bag filled with fresh earth ; it 
A\ as found to be an excellent absorbent. 

After the doctor had taken up the severed arteries and bandaged 
my hurt, I was soon out of pain, and as I sank restfully back the 
last thing that I recollected was the doctors of medicine and divinity 
carrying out the body of a soldier who had died in the corner of 
the room. 

Poor fellow, his personal effects were few : a rifle left on the 
field, a pair of shoes, and maybe a bag of tobacco and an old pipe, 
which were appropriated by the burial squad. A blood-stained 
blanket which he probably got of some dead enemy, and which, 
falling to our share, would, if we "shuffled off our mortal coil," 
be taken by the next chance soldier. No need of executors for 
the privates in the ranks — the first hand stretched out obtained the 
personal property, and retained it without fear of administrators 
or heirs. 

A cup of hot coffee was brought us, and hardly had we finished 
ere the boom of a cannon broke the stillness of the soft, spring 
air. It was the signal gun, and then the battle opened. We could 
not move from our pallets, only stay and listen, wishing with a 
hstless kind of hope for rescue. 

For a half or three-quarters of an hour the firing continued, 
advancing nearer and nearer, showing that our forces were re- 
treating. Then there was a lessening of reports, and while we 
wondered what it could mean, steps were heard outside ascend- 
ing the stairway, and several of our comrades of the Black Horse 
entered the room, having been sent by the ever-kind and thought- 
ful Colonel Randolph to bring our blankets and clothes, which 
had been strapped behind our saddles. 

They told us the news : In the morning our forces were struck 
bv solid lines of infantry, who had driven them back until they had 
been ordered to retreat to their horses and retire beyond the 
village. They said, furthermore, in a short time the court-house 
would be occupied by Yankees. 

This was anything but cheering news to two already down- 
hearted patients, and our spirits sank to zero, especially as. after 
a most fashionable visit as regards time, our comrades left us. 

Soon after the fight was renewed; this time only about two 
miles away. A stand must have been made by our people, for not 
only the artillery, but the musketry as well, could be heard. It was 
a short conflict, for it ended as abruptly as it commenced and 
then came another interval of perfect silence. 



552 JOHNNY REB and BILLY YANK 

Through the window poured a mellow flood of sunlight, the 
green baby leaves, but yesterday burst from the bud. taking a 
greener tint from the vivid-hued rays. A blackbird sang on a 
bough just outside, and the sweet odor of springtime came 
through the open window. One could close his eyes and imagine 
himself in some peaceful country home. 

In a perfect agony of expectation we awaited the sounds we 
knew must soon follow, and in a few minutes several sudden re- 
ports blazed forth and then a shrapnel bursted over the court- 
house. The carol of the bird was hushed. Again the cannon 
voice and explosion of shell was heard farther down the village. 

Shepherd got up. 

"Good God! 1 can't stand this!" and he tottered from the room. 

Another and still another report, and maddened by uncer- 
tainty I dragged myself, despite the burning pain, to the window 
and looked out. I forgot wounds, hurts — I was thrilled to the 
heart by the bravest, most daring scene my eyes ever gazed upon 
before or since. This was what I saw : 

In front of the court-house, in the direction in which I was 
looking, was a large common or pasture of about one hundred 
acres, destitute of trees or shrubbery with the exception of an 
old dead apple tree standing in the middle. The common was 
bounded on the opposite side by a dense forest. In front of the 
woods, about half a mile distant, was planted a Yankee battery 
of four guns, and it was their shells which were exploding over 
the village. In the middle of the field were two figures; one lay 
behind the tree, seemingly nerveless with fear, for he made 
neither sign nor motion. 

Standing out in bold relief was a soldier in gray, with neither 
brake, bank, nor cover protecting him. He stood there alone, 
fighting that four-gun battery. Evidently annoyed by his fire, a 
gun was turned on him ; a solid shot went shrieking over his head 
but it did not daunt him. Upright, he used his repeating-rifle 
with wonderful rapidity, though with what effect I could not see. 
The gun of the battery was aimed better next time, for a long 
furrow was ploughed in the ground near where he stood ; even 
that did not cause him to move nor retreat ; instead, his rifle 
went up to his eye, a little puff of smoke, a faint crack, and the 
bullet sped on its errand ; then the rifle was lowered, a shot from 
the magazine slipped into the barrel and fired in rapid succes- 
sion. Another cannon-shot passed through the branches of the 
old apple tree, yet he did not even turn his head. He seemed 



The rear-guard oe the grand army. 553 

not to know or care whether there was an enemy in the rear, 
and fought hke a Titan against a host. 

I was lost in amazement. Who was this man who alone was 
tackling with superb madness a whole battery of artillery? Shot 
and shell seemed no more to him than the clouds of Saracen ar- 
rows did to the lion-hearted Richard. Horatius at the bridge, 
D'Auvergne at the pass holding back unnumbered foes, never 
surpassed in splendid recklessness such an act as this. No glad- 
iator's exhibitions to excite the huzzas of the populace. For less 
than this has history made men famous. The Athenians would 
have carried him into the senate chamber and recited an ode in 
his honor. How grim old Ney would have taken him by the hand 
and into his heart, and later on Lord Raglan would have given 
him the Victoria cross, and England voted him a pension. 

Ah ! bravery is a glorious virtue wherever it be found ; the 
gods respect, men admire and women adore it. Under all con- 
ditions, at all times it is grand and noble, but grander and nobler 
is the courage which plans, which dares, which executes without 
hope and without reward. 

The sole witness of this exploit now enacting on the heath 
€nded his observations, for a shell from the battery exploded 
near the window with fearful force ; a limb of the sycamore whicn 
shaded the court-house was cut in two, and one of the fragments 
of iron shattered the window glass above my head. This was a 
little too hot, so dropping to the floor I wiggled to the staircase 
and halloed for assistance. A soldier heard the call and carried 
me down the long steps into th.e court-room, and then, by the di- 
rection of the surgeon, laid me upon a bench on the raised dais 
where in peaceful times the learned man of law was wont to pre- 
side and dispense justice to all without regard to age, color or 
previous condition of servitude. 

Listen ! there is the rumble of wheels, and a faint cheer fol- 
lows. The Yankees are closing in on the place. I wonder where 
the rear-guard is now. Killed, captured, wounded or beating a 
retreat ? 

Hardly had these thoughts flashed through my mind when the 
crack of a rifle was heard outside ; through the open door I saw 
that man in gray retreating in a swinging gait ; then through 
the windovif I caught a last glimpse of him ; he seemed to be of 
middle age, tall and thin. Behind him, not a hundred yards away, 
came the battery in a gallop, and then vanished in a huge cloud 
of dust. 



554 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

Once more ! only once more, the report of his piece sounded, 
so faintly, Shepherd said, as to be barely audible, yet it was a 
deadly shot, for in a minute a squad of blue-coats came in, care- 
fully bearing- one of their number, shot through the groin, almost 
in front of the court-house door. He was laid beside me on the 
platform, and then his comrades left without saying a word. They 
were evidently in a desperate hurry. Shepherd interrogated the 
man, but he was too far gone to answer; his wound wds mortal 
and his life was ebbing away with every breath. 

Who was the hero or fanatic who killed him? I never could 
learn. Whether rendered savage, desperate, dangerous, by the 
death of some loved friend killed on the battle-field, or by the ill 
treatment of a member of his family by marauders, or a veritable 
madman at large, or having been a prisoner and made nearly in- 
sane by brutal treatment of his captors ; or perchance born like 
Nelson, without fear, and loving, as Charles of Sweden did. the 
music of whistling bullets above everything else, none may ever 
know. Whatever feeling inspired him, the action was as brilliant 
as ever jeweled the chronicles of the Crusades. Whether he 
was killed in the battle which followed, or escaped to tell the tale, 
his was the proud title of the "REAR-GUARD OF THE A. N. 
V." A veritable stormy petrel of tempestuous war. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

OFF DUTY. 

In a short time a young Yankee officer entered the room ; he 
was as martial a looking fellow as ever eye rested upon ; the true 
type of a dashing cavalryman. There was something of the holi- 
day soldier about him, for though covered with dust, the per- 
spiration running in streaks down his face, his bearing, his glit- 
tering equipments showed the care he took of them ; two ivory- 
handled revolvers peeped from the holsters, his spurs were jing- 
ling, and his get-up foppish, yet he was the dandy of the battle- 
field and not the boudoir. 

Following him were several troopers. He stopped and looked 
around ; there lay those who were shot, in every attitude and 
form of misery ; the floor itself where he stood was red and even 
stained his boots. He appeared shocked by what he saw, and 
turning to Dr. Randolph said he would send some stores from 
the hospital chest to alleviate in some measure the suffering of the 
wounded. 

"I wish to God," he added, "that the authors of this war could 
witness such scenes as this!" Then saluting the doctor he left. 

True to his promise, his men soon returned, bringing many 
necessaries and luxuries from their ambulance; among other 
things several buckets of ice water. We drank this precious 
liquid, bathed our hurts and wet the bandages, and many sank 
into refreshing slumber. The last thing before the eyes closed 
we saw the blue-coats on their errands of mercy, giving drink to 
the thirsty, food to the hungry, and playing the good Samaritan 
to their erstwhile deadly foes. In the time of our suffering there 
were no jibes nor taunts from them ; instead, had we been the 
nearest and dearest, their courtesy and kindness could not have 
been more marked. Yes! though "Johnny Reb" and "Billy 
Yank" could fight each other in deadly combat, yet in times such 
as these the best in their natures shone out, and their virtues 
gleamed more brightly when displayed in the dark background of 
"war's horrid front." 

"General Lee's right flank is turned and the game is up," I 
thought. 



556 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

A rough shake aroused me ; it was Shepherd, in a great state 
of excitement. 

''Look, Hunter ! Look !" he exclaimed. 

I thought I was still dreaming, for my last gaze had rested upon 
armed men in blue, and by some trick of fancy the color was 
changed into gray. There were a dozen or so in the room ; old 
Rebs to perfection, and if imagination did conjure up this appari- 
tion, she did it with a marvelous attention to detail. The ancient 
slouch hat, the ragged jacket, the battered canteen, the discolored 
breeches, the brogans and stockings outside of pants, even the 
bright muskets, all convinced me that I was either mad or dream- 

"What does all this mean, Shepherd; who are these men?" 
"It means that Longstreet has just arrived and occupies the 
place without having fired a shot." 

To the wounded, who had made up their minds to a long con- 
finement in a foreign hospital with no exchange, it meant a lin- 
gering out of long days in a strange place with no familiar face 
at the bedside; the transition was sudden, but filled us with in- 
tense joy and devout thankfulness. No felon who had become 
resigned to his doom received the reprieve with more full-hearted 
gratitude than did those despairing Rebs, for convalescence would 
be spent in the bosom of their families, amid all those sweet, ten- 
der surroundings which make home a veritable paradise to the 
soldier. 

Those old familiar forms, they gladdened our eyes, for to every 
patient not already dying, they showed their sympathy in a way 
' that spoke louder than words could ever do ; they shared their 
three days' rations with the hungry ; it was not much, one or two 
half-cooked ash-cakes and a slice of fat meat, that was all, and 
though it meant starving one day, yet they never hesitated. 

Uncle Peter, as Longstreet was called, had made a forced 
march and broken down half of his corps to reach Spottsylvania. 
Ke had taken position about half a mile outside, where he was 
engaged in throwing up breastworks. 

My informant, one of Anderson's men, said : 

''There's going to be some tall fighting hereabouts soon." 

The hours seemed laden with death. From my high position 

on the platform I had a view of the whole court-room, and the 

picture that met my gaze was infinitely sad. Beside me on the 

dais was one of my own regiment, shot in the side, and from the 



OFF DUTY 557 

nature of his wound he was not able to He down ; his suffering- 
was intense. 

On the floor, lying on a spread blanket, were five soldiers, all 
past hope, for the surgeon after a brief examination pronounced 
them mortally wounded. 

There is a horrible fascination in watching dying men ; turn 
your eyes which way you will, they invariably return to those 
whose sands of life are nearly run out. You can count the gasp- 
ing breath, behold the spasmodic clutching at the air. the respira- 
tion getting fainter and taken at longer intervals, the glazing eye, 
the blackening lips, the ashy pallor of the face, and at last the 
rattling of the throat and convulsive shuddering of their limbs 
as the immortal spirit leaves its tenement of clay. 

There were more than a hundred cavalrymen lying in the room, 
and the odor, the blood and the gathering flies made the place 
seem like a charnel-house. Nothing was done nor could be done. 
Utterly unprepared for the emergency, the dead and wounded lay 
side by side unattended. 

This was not our surgeon's fault, all that man could do was 
done. For forty-eight hours he had been upon his feet without 
an hour's continuous rest. But what could one doctor and his 
assistant accomplish among all these maimed and mangled men ? 
Only witness their agony, in despair that they could not respond 
to a tenth part of the piteous appeals for aid. 

The lint, bandages and stimulants which our foes had supplied 
during their brief stay did incalculable good, and was one of those 
graceful acts which touched the heart. 

One cup of coffee was given to each of the badly wounded who 
could drink, and a stimulant to those who imperatively needed 
it; real good Yankee liquor it was, pure and strong medicinal 
brandy, such as we had not tasted for years.; but the demijohn 
was soon emptied. 

In the evening several surgeons arrived and set to work. 
Limbs were taken off, and in the adjoining room the frightful 
noise of the saw severing the bones was plainly audible. The 
dead were removed and the living had their hurts dressed with 
lint and bathed in water, then the patients were made as comfort- 
able as circumstances would permit. 

During the night fifteen men died and their bodies were car- 
ried out in the morning ; a melancholy procession, as one after 
another disappeared through the door. 



558 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

Preparations were made to transport us to Gordonsville, where 
several post hospitals were stationed. 

My companions in misery were Kelly, a little game-cock Irish- 
man of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry, who was shot through the 
shoulder; Shepherd and a soldier of Company H, of the same 
regiment. 

Together we lay in the vehicle, not a roomy ambulance with 
easy springs, but one of those huge, unwieldy affairs used for 
cavalry supplies, and in the parlance of the camp denominated 
"arks." 

Just before starting, General Stuart rode up and cheered us by 
his kind words; he looked as if dressed for a holiday review. His 
last words were characteristic: 

"You have done splendidly, boys! You have well earned your 
furlough; the Virginia girls will nurse you well and soon have 
you ready to follow me through Maryland." 

He saluted and rode away and we never again beheld our cav- 
alry leader. 

The teamster cracked his whip, the mules started and our jour- 
ney commenced. We lay on blankets spread upon the bare 
boards. The jolting was terrible, the torment simply excruciat- 
ing. The cavalryman lying next to me was shot in the hip, and 
the shaking of the ark started his wound bleeding afresh, flood- 
ing the blankets. By continued shouting we made the driver, who 
sat on a saddle on the left rear horse, understand that we wanted 
the wagon stopped ; he pulled up and asked me what the matter 
was. 

"I'll drive to that house," he said, pointing to a place a mile 
away, "and leave him there." 

The motion of the wagon recommenced, and still the red 
stream continued to flow ; we were helpless and could do nothing 
to aid him. His face grew pale and more wan, until at last, when 
the driver came to a halt and the bleeding man was taken out, 
he was gasping his last. 

"No sort of use to put him in the house," the driver remarked 
coolly; "he will be dead in a few minutes." 

"Oh ! don't leave him in the road," said Kelly ; "carry him in 
anyhow." 

"Well, I reckon they kin bury him." 

The inanimate clay was left at the farm-house and our passage 
recommenced. The jar and shock was almost unendurable and 
we begged the man to leave us on the roadside and not to kill us 



OFF DUTY 559 

in this manner; but he said, "No, I have orders to carry you to 
Beaver Dam Station and I am going to do it." 

We tried prayers, threats and promises, for we had nothing 
with which to bribe him, but he was inexorable ; so in sullen 
despair we lay, undergoing torture. The wagon rumbled along so 
slowly that yards seemed miles, and it appeared as if time itself 
stood still. 

But we were doomed to bear other pain than physical, for 
about noon a cavalryman dashed up at a rattling pace, shouting 
out that Sheridan had just occupied Beaver Dam, burnt the depot 
and destroyed the railroad track for a long distance, and it was 
probable that he would take the very road which we were travel- 
ing- 

Without waiting to find out the truth the teamster, panic- 
stricken, stopped the wagon, unhitched the horses, and mount- 
ing rode away to the woods in hot haste, followed by the other 
drivers of the train, leaving the wounded to take care of them- 
selves. We listened for the hoof strokes of the approaching foe, 
but the sun declined and not a sound broke the stillness. At last, 
when darkness was near, the teamsters reappeared, looking very 
sheepish and making many excuses. Drawing the wagon to one 
side, they lighted a fire, cooked their rations, gave us some rye 
coffee, which, added to the hardtack and roast beef in my cap- 
tured haversack, made a good supper. 

W^e continued our journey the next day, the wagons heading 
for Bumpas Station on the C. C. R. R., where we arrived late 
in the evening, after a drive which left little life in any of us. 

The wounded were distributed around. Shepherd, Kelly and I 
v.ere placed on the floor of the station-house, a canteen of water 
and a cracker given us, and we were then left for the night. 

The rumor that the track at Beaver Dam had been destroyed 
was only too true ; Sheridan and his troopers had made thorough 
work in their raid and had left only a blackened, smoking waste 
of the station. 

The hope, fondly cherished, that we would be sent to Rich- 
mond was doomed to disappointment, so we were forwarded to 
Gordonsville to remain until the road was repaired and the cars 
could carry the wounded to the Capital City. 

On reaching Gordonsville we found the hospitals crowded with 
the wounded from the fierce battle of the Wilderness, but they 
were under excellent management; everything was neat and 
clean and very comfortable. The various wards were cool and 



560 JOHNNY REB AND BII^I^Y YANK 

airy, while a full corps of nurses gave patient and watchful atten- 
dance. In addition to this the ladies in the vicinity had organized 
a sanitary relief club, and every day they filled their allotted tasks, 
bringing sunshine with their sweet, bright faces, and doing more 
good by their very presence than all the herbs that Galen ever 
dreamed of. All those little luxuries which to the veteran of the 
camps brought back the memory of ante-bellum days, as well as 
tempted his pala|;e, were offered him by fair hands. The rations 
too were wholesome and plentiful, and under these influences 
most of the patients improved rapidly. The color returned to 
wan cheeks and contentment was marked in the face of every 
convalescent. It was pleasant to many of those war-worn Rebs 
to lie at length on a clean, soft bed, with the cool air sweeping 
through the open door and windows, with no care on their minds, 
and a consciousness of duty well performed; and where their 
gaze could rest upon graceful, flitting forms, while the sweetest 
voices would charm away the weary hours, and willing hands an- 
ticipate every wish, and their pains and aches were lightened by the 
touch of tender hands. 

Then would come glorious news of our comrades in the field, 
and the distant guns bore on the tidings of great conflicts, where 
the gray legions, standing at bay, met face to face and front to 
front the surging lines of blue. 

At this time the privates of the rank and file had not much 
belief in Grant's generalship. His mad charges in which he lost 
thousands, his repeated attacks and repulses, until the vicinity of 
Spottsylvania resembled a great abattoir, where, instead of cattle 
being slaughtered, precious humanity gave up their lives, was not 
their idea of a master of the art of war. 

In about ten days the damage done by Sheridan's raiders at 
Beaver Dam was repaired, and those of the wounded who could 
be moved were put on flats and started for Richmond. Many 
trains were loaded with the wounded. 

It was an unpleasant ride for some, the track being rough and 
uneven, and the cars were those used for transporting timber, 
ties, pig iron and other third-class rate. But it was easy enough 
to gain patience and philosophy now, for thoughts of furlough 
and a gradual convalescence in the home circle lingered in the 
minds of the majority. 

No thieving commissary to rob him of his daily meals, no 
guards, no work of any kind, but a glorious idleness, with care and 
trouble banished. So the antiquated cars racketed and rumbled 



OFF DUTY 561 

along as best they could, and each revolution of the driving wheel 
brought us nearer home. 

About twilight the train stopped at the depot, and the 
wounded, of which there were several thousands, were taken off 
and sent to the different hospitals. For hours the ambulances 
carried their loads, and then returned for more. Those in the 
front cars disembarked first, and were of course chosen in turn. 

When our flat was reached the surgeon told us that the hos- 
pitals were jammed, and we would have to be carried to a tem- 
porary one. We learned what that meant later on. 

It seemed that the Government at Richmond had failed, as it 
always did, to be ready for an emergency, even such a necessary 
one as the taking care of its own wounded. It had made no pro- 
vision for the army which came pouring in, in a steady stream, from 
the different battle-fields, and with criminal carelessness had, in a 
time when wonders could have been accomplished, calmly folded 
its hands and waited for a miracle to occur. 

When north, east, south, and west the air was filled with the 
sound of the raging conflict and Richmond was girt with flame, 
it found the officials helplessly wringing their hands and gazing 
appalled at the host of maimed from the battle-fields. Every bed 
in the hospital was occupied, and still the long procession came 
steadily onward. It was at this crisis that the women of Vir- 
ginia arose in their grandeur and came out in colors that shone 
in spotless lustre. They cast aside the natural timidity of their 
sex, conquering those finer feelings which make women shrink 
from all that is abhorrent to the sight, and met the emergency by 
flocking to the city from all sections, and each carried back as 
many patients as her household could accommodate. 

A half-dozen creaky ambulances emptied our flat, and soon 
dumped us into the shades of Chimborazo Hospital. There is no 
descriptive power on earth which could convey the abomination 
of this dreadful place. It had been erected in the distraction of 
the bloody crisis, by the authorities, who lay all the winter inert, 
and only at the eleventh hour provided long buildings like those 
seen in the marble yards to protect the workmen. 

I quote from my diary : 

"May 28th, 1864. 

"Arrived in hell last night, and now am reclining on a bag half 

stuffed with sawdust, which is red and sticky. Haven't seen a 

doctor. This place of the spirits damned is a shed of rough 

planks about i 50 feet long, I should judge, by about 50 feet wide. 

36 



562 JOHNNY REB AND BILI,Y YANK 

The coffins in which we He are about six by three feet. Shrouds, 
called bed-clothes, of coarse sacking. The mattresses are stuffed 
with shucks, straw, sawdust — anything that comes handy. 
There are only two brute attendants, both black (they call them 
nurses, God save the mark!) to take care of us. The odor is 
fearful, the heat unbearable. It is sweet to die for one's 
country."' 

i\.ll that day there was only one visit from a sorely harassed 
surgeon, accompanied by a brutal negro, who I saw take a dead 
soldier, preparatory to burial, and place the stiffened limbs in all 
kinds of fantastic attitudes, enjoying his diabolical exhibition with 
as keen zest as a child playing with a doll. 

The beds were so close together that a patient could touch his 
right and left neighbor by simply stretching his arms. A narrow 
Vk^indow placed at intervals half lighted the room, but wholly 
failed in any purpose of ventilation. Not a mouthful was given 
us for supper or for breakfast next morning, and it was not until 
noon that some hardtack and rye coffee was handed around by 
the callous Caliban. The condition of affairs in that close- 
cribbed Gehenna was shocking. 

On my right a young soldier had passed away peacefully dur- 
ing the night ; I tried to attract the attention of the hospital 
nurse, but failed, so pulled the blanket over the dead face. On 
my left was a stalwart soldier who raved in delirium, with none to 
notice or care for him. The water given us was lukewarm and 
unpalatable, and the all-pervading gloom depressed the spirits. 
The jolting of the train had started many wounds bleeding afresh, 
and there should have been at least a staff of surgeons to those 
hundred and odd patients, every one of them wounded seriously. 

The second day was but a repetition of the first. Many 
begged to be taken outside to He in the sun — anywhere to get out 
of that dark, foul-smelling place. I wrote an urgent letter to my 
sister, who occupied a Government position in the city, and 
begged her for God's sake to get me away. 

On the third day several Sisters of Charity and a robed priest 
entered, bringing hope and comfort with them. 

Just here I desire to give a willing tribute to the devotees of 
that denomination. The heart of the Roman Catholic Church 
South was profoundly interested in the cause of Secession. 
Their devotion was intense, their deeds the theme of all praise. 
In the very smoke of the battle the priests could be seen succor- 
ing the wounded or making content the last hours of the dying. 



OFF DUTY 563 

Neither hardships nor danger could daunt those faithful men, who 
worked from motives holy and pure. In the hospitals the garb 
of the sisters was ever seen, and the woe that they alleviated the 
Omnipotent only knows. These divine women would "go into 
the highways and byways," leaving others to attend the patients 
in the regular hospitals, and would sally out and hunt up the 
unfortunate in just such festering holes as we were stewing in. 
Blessings upon the sisterhood with its white caps, saintly pres- 
ence, meek, soft eyes and tender touch ; every veteran of the 
Army of Northern Virginia will always hold them in a most sweet 
remembrance. 

The three days I spent in that hospital were the most terrible 
of my life ; with nothing to do but to fight away the bloated flies 
which clung to the wounded spots until they were mashed. I 
am convinced that a month in that Hades would either have 
killed or maddened any patient. Like many, I sank into a listless 
melancholy and cared for nothing on this mundane sphere. 

On the third day my sister, accompanied by the surgeon of the 
post, found me, and within an hour I was transferred to a private 
hospital in Franklin Street. 

This home was the result of the efforts of a devoted woman 
who, without money, collected enough by persistent endeavor 
from the Richmond people to found a hospital, which was sup- 
ported entirely by voluntary contributions. The most seriously 
wounded soldiers were treated there. 

Miss Sallie Tompkins was the heroine and she threw her whole 
soul into her work; her hospital, "The Robertson," was incom- 
parably the best in Richmond, and lucky the soldier whose form 
rested upon the snowy sheets of this retreat. 

Miss Sallie as a quartermaster would have been worth her 
weight in gold; she was a born forager, and no matter how 
scarce vegetables might be in the beleagured city, she always 
managed to secure enough for her patients ; indeed, fed them so 
w^ell that some of them actually grew fat and refused to go home 
on a wounded furlough because they had such a royal time at 
The Robertson, which, by the way, was situated in the most 
fashionable part of the city. 

If the sanitary side of the house was complete, the medical de- 
partment was no less so under the management of one of the 
most eminent surgeons in the Confederate States, and his skill 
was only equalled by his kindness and great heart. 

Doctor A. Y. P. Garnett was probably the most popular man 



564 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

among the soldiers in the South. He effected wonderful cures 
at The Robertson, and would stay by the seriously wounded day 
and night, fighting death step by step. 

Surely if all the wounded that Dr. Garnett pulled through and 
made whole would join ranks, there would be a very strong bri- 
gade of staunch, lusty fellows, who but for him would have made 
rich the soil. 

To have been born a gentleman and reared as such, to prove 
worthy of one's birth and training, is to have reached the summit 
of every man's high ambition. Coming from a race whose blood 
was pure for generations. Dr. Garnett inherited also the bright 
brain of his ancestors, and by his talents made a name which has 
ever been famous in Virginia. 

He was the family physician of Mr. Jefferson Davis and of 
General Robert E. Lee, and an intimate social friend of the lead- 
ers of the Confederacy. Indeed his influence over Mr. Davis 
was second to none, and he was often chosen by officers high in 
rank to broach schemes to the President which conspired for the 
benefit of the country. 

Miss Sallie made a set of rules and expected obedience from 
her soldier pets, who loved her, every man of them. At eight 
A. M. breakfast was served ; at ten the lady visitors came, bringing 
food, wine and flowers, and many remained all day, reading to 
or writing for the disabled, or assisting Miss Sallie about the 
house. At two dinner was served in the patients' rooms and in 
the dining-room ; at seven supper, and until nine those patients 
who were able were allowed to leave the hospital for recreation 
or visiting; but they were to be back punctually at the stated 
hour or the door was locked ; but repeated summons always 
brought Miss Sallie in person. She would not say much, but 
before those rebuking eyes the bravest soldier in the Confed- 
eracy would quake. 

Miss Sallie trusted to the honor of her patients, and it was 
laughable to see some half-tight six-footer blush and stammer 
his excuses before the reproving four feet ten inches of femi- 
ninity. 

There were hundreds of the wounded sent home daily from 
the various hospitals, and nearly every farm-house in southside 
Virginia had one or more patients to attend to. 

A party of ladies from the country came to The Robertson to 
choose convalescents to take back with them. I was drawn by 



OFF DUTY 565 

a Colonel Ashliii, and was to leave the next morning, Miss Sallie 
promising to have my ticket and passport ready. 

Now I wanted my comrade, Will Edelin, to go along, Dr. Gar- 
nett having good-naturedly said that a little rusticating would 
not hurt him; but he looked too rotund and rosy to pass off for a 
patient under treatment. I told Edelin that he should go, but 
he said that without his furlough and medical passport it was im- 
possible. 

He helped me into the canal boat the next morning, and when 
the lines were being cast off, the mules touched up and the guard 
was driving everybody ashore whose papers were not en regie, I 
was taken with a succession of fainting spells, and hung on to 
Edelin so tightly and implored the guards so piteously not to 
take him from me, that despite his orders he weakened, and my 
friend was soon sitting on deck under the awning, as blithe as a 
cricket. 

After an all-night journey we disembarked at Columbia, in 
Fluvanna County, where a carriage awaited our coming, and 
after a drive of about ten miles, reached our destination. 

Our host was a genial, whole-souled man ; his household con- 
sisted of two charming daughters. His estate lay on the Rivanna 
River, directly at the Falls. Two great mills, the property of 
Colonel Ashlin, supplied the whole country with flour. 

This region of Virginia was rich, the famous valley never hav- 
ing been trod by a hostile foot. The Rivanna River turned the 
great wheels, the grist was ground as regularly and as well as if 
the "dogs of war" were chained, and the canal boat glided undis- 
turbed on its way; and the driver's tin horn, instead of the bugle, 
echoed along the vales. 

It was a soft place for a wounded soldier; such abundance of 
food I never dreamed existed in the Confederacy. Four kinds 
of bread for breakfast, and great racks of ice-cream, frozen solid, 
every day for dinner, and of course substantial ad lib. 

Every dwelling in the surrounding country had its inmates, 
vvho received as much devoted care as if they had been the best 
beloved of the household. 

Every girl in Virginia had her share of nursing to do, and it 
was too common to excite remark to see some wounded soldier. 
who had been carried into the farmer's house dirty, unkempt, and 
literally in rags, emerge therefrom spick, span and clean, with 
underclothing made from the garments of the girls, who had sacri- 
ficed their own comfort for the man who could pull a trigger. 



566 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

The privates despised the drivelHng and infirm Government at 
Richmond, and they had no affection for Mr. Jefferson Davis, 
who was never en rapport with the soldiery. 

The President loved to be surrounded by a brilliant staff, and 
pomp and parade was dear to his soul. A private soldier was to 
him a thing of shreds and tatters, a being to be avoided, and I 
question if a ragged, powder-grimed Reb would have been ad- 
mitted to an audience with the Chief Magistrate. 

In searching the pages of my note-book I find only one senti- 
ment of the soldiery, freely expressed at their camp-fires, and that 
was a deep hostility to President Davis, his Cabinet and his whole 
Administration. 

This unfriendliness began in the summer of 1861, when Mr. 
Davis insisted on retaining Commissary-General Northrup in office, 
notwithstanding the protest of General Beauregard. 

Northrup's administration was simply idiotic, and in the very 
midst of plenty the army was put on short rations. The ap- 
pointment and retention of General John H. Winder as provost 
marshal was a most unfortunate step, as was also the forced 
resignation of Mr. Randolph as Secretary of War and the ap- 
pointment of Judah P. Benjamin in his place. 

Mr. Benjamin was a brilliant lawyer, but he knew as much 
about war as an Arab knows of the Sermon on the Mount. The 
pages of Vattel and of Grotius were more familiar to him than 
Upton tactics or Jomini's precepts. 

Then Mr. Davis's constant interference in military affairs made 
him most unpopular with the Army. This dissatisfaction stead- 
ily increased, and had General Lee at any time desired to play 
the role of despot, a simple hint would have been sufficient. His 
trusty bayonets would have placed him, as the Ironsides of Monk 
and Fairfax exalted Cromwell, at the head of a Republic. 

The truth of this is proven by a well-known fact : after the re- 
turn of Lee from the unfortunate Gettysburg Campaign, while at 
Orange Court House, he placed his resignation in Mr. Davis's 
hands to be accepted or rejected. This leaked out and created 
thrilling excitement among his veterans. Had Mr. Davis ac- 
cepted General Lee's abdication, there would have been an up- 
rising which would have swept away the Confederate Govern- 
ment within twenty-four hours after the truth was known. I do 
not believe that General Lee in person could have held the sol- 
diery in check ; some would have grasped his horse's reins and 
have cried out as they did in the Wilderness, "General Lee to the 



0?F DUTY 567 

rear!" Then with steady tramp, sixty thousand Rebels, the sur- 
\ivors of scores of battles, would have marched into Richmond 
calmly, coolly, deliberately, and there would have been such an 
upheaval of Government as was never seen since the crumble of 
the Bourbon race when Louis the Eighteenth was King. I 
state but a simple fact; there would have been no meeting, but 
simply a movement that generals, colonels, officers and privates 
would have indulged in. Nobody, who did not live in those days, 
can accurately estimate the white heat of passion that would have 
pervaded the Army of Northern Virginia had the news gone from 
lip to lip that President Davis had accepted the resignation of Rol> 
ert E. Lee. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

PRIVATE LAMBERT'S SHOT. 

Just at this time another wounded soldier received his billet at 
the Ashlin's. He was a tall, athletic young fellow, and report 
said, a dauntless soldier ; his name was Hardy ; a native of Nor- 
folk, Virginia, and a member of the Richmond Howitzers. He 
was as fine a raconteur as I ever listened to; and one of his stor- 
ies so interested us all that I jotted it down as it fell from his lips. 

"Talking of shots," said Hardy, meditatively stroking his mous- 
tache, "puts me in mind of the greatest artillery discharge made 
during the war." 

"Is it true," queried Colonel Ashlin, "or is it a story like 
Will Edelin is hatching in his head now?" 

"What is it. Will?" inquired one of Colonel Ashlin's daughters. 

"What is what?" answered the little infantryman. 

"That story that father said you were hatching in your head." 

"O," he answered, "I was only thinking of Captain Flynn's 
shot. But go on. Hardy, and tell us your story." 

"No," said the artilleryman, "peace before war; after you have 
finished your yarn, I'll begin mine." 

"Out with it, Will," said Colonel Ashlin. "I know it's worth 
hearing." 

"Well, when Hardy there spoke of a great sliot I was reminded 
of a pretty tall one that did considerable damage down on the 
Eastern Shore of Maryland. It happened long before I was born, 
but the story has been handed down from father to son. 

"There was an old Irishman named Captain Flynn who owned 
a small schooner which plied along the Potomac River and its estu- 
aries, buying fowls, fruits and garden truck from the country people 
and selling them in the Baltimore markets. 

"It happened that the Captain, a week before Christmas, dropped 
anchor off Cutler's Creek, and there came an unexpected freeze, 
and for four days he was held hard and fast. All his meat gave 
out, so he traveled over the ice to the home of one of his best cus- 
tomers, a spinster named Miss Tilda Jenks, who made her living 
by raising poultry. 

"Miss Tilly was cited among her neighbors as being the sharpest 
and the shrewdest bargainer in the whole country round; indeed 



PRIVATE lyAMBERT'S SHOT 569 

some of the old hands said that she could even beat a preacher in 
a horse trade. 

"When Captain Flynn went to purchase a dozen fowls the an- 
cient spinster promptly doubled her price. This made the old 
Captain so mad that he went back to his sloop, swearing he would 
starve before he would pay it. Then ensued a struggle between his 
stomach and his pride, which resulted in his going back the next 
day and paying the spinster her price. As he saw the great num- 
ber of fowls in the enclosure he said : 

'* 'Miss Tilly, how much will you charge me to let me shoot in 
the thick of them, an' let me have all I kill?' 

"The woman studied for a while and then answered: 

" 'Captain, if you let me load your gun you kin have all you kill 
for one dollar.' 

" 'Bedad ! an' it's a bargain, an' here's your dollar,' answered the 
Irishman, 'an' now I'll go fer me gun.' 

"He hurried back to his boat, got out an ancient bell-mouthed 
blunderbuss that had belonged to his grandfather, put in a hand- 
ful of powder, rammed in a bunch of tow ; next a double handful 
of shot was dropped down the barrel and held tight with another 
bunch of tow ; then Captain Flynn sawed off about four fingers 
of the ramrod, picked the flint, called his crew, which consisted of 
an antiquated darky, and proceeded inland. 

"Miss Tilly first carefully measured the gun with the ramrod, 
tlien, despite the protest of the Captain, she loaded the gim with 
only a thimbleful of powder and one of shot. 

" 'A bargain is a bargain, Captain,' she said tauntingly, 'and 
here's your gun ; now you can have all you kill.' 

"Captain Flynn asked for an ear of corn; this he shelled along 
for about a hundred yards from the woodpile, then lying behind a 
log, he signified to Miss Tilly that he was ready. 

"The gate was opened and the fowds of all sizes, sexes and con- 
dition came running, flying and fluttering out, and there was a 
confused mass of heads, wings and feathers mixed up as far as the 
eye could reach. The Captain sighted along the line, and uttered a 
prayer ; the darky got behind a tree and clapped his hands over 
his ears; the spinster stood with her horn spectacles on her fore- 
head, serene and confident; then the Captain, having finished his 
orisons, pulled the trigger. There was a thundering report that 
reverberated clean to the Virginia shore and back, then the smoke 
covered everything; when it lifted, there was the Captain, sitting 



570 JOHNNY REB AND BII^LY YANK 

up, rubbing his shoulder ; Miss Tilly had her arms raised to heaven, 
crying, 'I'm ruined and undone!' 

"The darky was dancing a jig. 

''The spoils were counted : sixteen chickens, twelve guinea keets, 
five hen turkeys, one gobbler, two geese, two pigeons, four ducks 
and the old lady's pet pig." 

"Well, well," said Colonel Ashlin, "you know I am strictly tem- 
perate, but Mary shall make you a julep for that story; now go 
on, Mr. Hardy, with your narrative." 

"Well, my story is very much like Will Edelin's — it shows the 
power of a range shot, and it is the solemn truth, although it 
sounds incredible. I saw the shot with my own eyes, for I was 
Number 4 of the gun, and know the incident has been the theme of 
almost every camp-fire in the Amiy. 

"You all know when Grant made his sudden onset on Lee at 
Spottsylvania, so as to split his army in two, he used every arti- 
fice to conceal his movements and then relied for success upon 
his heavy attacks and sudden charges. He was successful, for 
he broke through our lines like a tempest, shivering to pieces 
everything in his path, and capturing General Edward Johnson and 
his entire division. The line was re-established with great loss. 
In consequence of this, extraordinary efforts were made to pre- 
vent any more surprises, and the troops were cautioned to be on 
the alert, and be ready on the instant to repel any attack the wily, 
determined enemy might make. 

"Of course you all know the Richmond Howitzers by reputa- 
tion. There is not a soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia 
who has not heard them spoken of again and again in the biv- 
ouac. Probably no finer batteries ever served in the world ; every 
battle was but another record of their triumph. 

"During the series of savage assaults of Grant at Spottsylvania 
the position of the First Company of Howitzers was on the left 
of the center. The whole army had thrown up hasty breastworks 
protecting their front. 

"The position which the Howitzers occupied was intended for a 
battery breastwork : there were embrasures for the guns, with 
the earth shovelled high on each side. Connecting, there were 
the rifle-pits of the infantry on the right. Just here came in a 
peculiarity of construction which every one noticed. It could 
not have been through design, but on this singularity hangs the 
M'hole action. 



PRIVATE LAMBERT S SHOT 57 1 



"This line of works was built directly across a large field which 
was bounded in front, about a quarter of a mile away, by a thick 
covert. 

"The Howitzers were but a section, and had but two guns, which 
were on the left and adjoining the infantry, and the two gims of a 
North Carolina battery were immediately upon the left. 

"Now bear in mind, the breastworks for the artillery were in 
length about twenty yards, the guns being about fifteen feet 
apart, a distance which gave us ample room to work them. Our 
breastworks were not immediately joined to the infantry en- 
trenchments, but were fully twelve feet in front; thus the rifle- 
pits extended through the entire length of the field to an impass- 
able swamp on the right, which was commanded by two batteries 
of artillery on a hill beyond. The field was nearly level along the 
line, except where it dipped gently in the center, close to the rifle- 
pits. 

"It was a warm, sultry May morning and absolute silence 
reigned along the whole front. The artillerymen, wearied by 
their hard work of the past week, lay among their guns, almost 
to a man sound asleep, leaving the task of keeping watch to the 
infantry. All were not asleep, though, for another soldier besides 
myself sat on top of the breastworks. We were smoking our 
pipes and looking with a good deal of curiosity at the Texans 
and the Eighth Georgia, for it was the famous 'Hood's brigade' 
which held this part of the line. The command had joined in a 
score of conflicts and its battle-flags bearing the names of the 
engagements almost hid the stars and bars — that glorious bri- 
gade whose coming to the front in a double-quick had often 
brought hope to many a sorely-pressed regiment. 

"Neither officers nor men expected any trouble that morning. 
The brigade was stretched on the ground in an aspect of contented 
rest. The soldiers, with that knowledge which the veterans have 
ot making themselves comfortable, had by means of their guns 
and bayonets formed a rough shelter, on the top of which were 
stretched their blankets and oilcloths; even the sentries had 
grown tired of pacing their beat, and with the sang froid which 



572 JOHNNY REB and BILIvY YANK 

prevails in our army, were sitting down with their muskets 
across their laps, half asleep. 

"All at once a singular sound was borne upon the air ; a curious, 
muffled noise like the tread of many feet. The lookout heard it, 
got up, yawned, stretched himself and gave a careless look in the 
direction from which it came. One glance was sufficient; with a 
blood-curdling yell he fired his musket. Instantly every man 
jumped to his feet ; the embryo tents disappeared, the line 
formed in a second, the artillerymen sprang to their guns, cool, 
collected, ready for the fray. 

"There in front was a sight to cause a warrior's blood to 
thrill. A gallant, glorious sight, with all the panoply of warfare. 

"Issuing from the dark woods in splendid array were three 
lines of battle, with an interval of about seventy-five yards 
between them. They were coming in a double-quick and were 
now fully half way across the meadow, evidently intending to 
carry the works by a coup de main. The lines of blue advanced 
solidly, quietly and portentously in their silence, awful in their 
power. 

"The loud tones of our officers came quick and decisive. Each 
soldier in the infantry grasped his rifle, the gunner in the battery 
sighted his piece. The foe, seeing that they were discovered, 
broke into a hurrah and increased their speed. 

"In an instant the four guns bellowed, dense blue-black smoke 
hiding everything for a moment from view. The discharge 
made wide gaps in the mass but did not check them in the slight- 
est. Those were veteran troops fighting under the eye of the 
splendid Hancock, and were doing well the work that was cut out 
for them. Their line was not extended nor did it overlap the 
artillery; the sole attack seemed to be squarely against the in- 
fantry, and they did not seem to care about the artillery at all. 

"Again the gmis, double shotted, poured death and destruction 
into their ranks. They staggered, the long line vibrated, but 
stiffened and advanced — always advanced. But when that omi- 
nous deadly musketry volley was heard, then was seen the result. 
They wavered, turned and fled, leaving many of their number 
lying on the field. 

"The second line came on a run, the officers well in front, wav- 
ing their swords and leading straight on to the works. The 
guns opened their storm of iron. The Texans hurled the mur- 
derous lead and the foes fell in scores, but still these grim war- 
riors of the Array of the Potomac breasted the tempest and kept 



PRIVATE IvAMBERT'S siiot 573 

up their resistless advance. They neared the works and then for 
the first time pulled triggers at a few paces. A line of fire ran 
down their line, followed by the purple smoke, then forward 
they dashed until they reached the rifle-pits. 

"Their right did not extend far enough to encircle or^overlap 
the guns ; they were within a few feet of them as they halted for 
a second. They were now safe from the artillery, which turned 
its attention to the third line of battle, now about a hundred yards 
away and just pulling for the breastworks. 

"It was a moment of furious excitement, and the day seemed 
lost to the Rebels. The Texans had just given ground and their 
line had been forced back some paces in the rear of the works, 
when they seemed determined to make a stand, but it would have 
been in vain. The third line, once up, would rush like a tidal- 
wave and overwhelm the already staggering brigade before re- 
inforcements could come. 

"The Yankees were strung out all along the ground at the foot 
of the works, calling upon their comrades to follow. The end 
seemed near; one rush and all would have been over. Their 
triumphant cheer rose, heralding victory. 

"The battery was served as it could only be worked by men 
who knew that moments were precious. How those dogs of 
war barked in one successive roar, sending grape and canister 
into the mass of men. 

"The second line reached the works and the guns were now 
rapidly served on the advancing third line of battle. The artil- 
lery had work to perform in its front. The artillerymen's blood- 
shot eyes gazed out of the clouds of dim smoke at the last line of 
blue, against whom they were hurling their iron bolts. All 
were looking — all save one, who in that time of awful peril and 
appalling commotion kept his head clear, his senses cool, his 
nerve steady. Amid all those scenes of dire disaster, screams 
of the wounded, yells of combatants, the hurly-burly of the death- 
dealing missiles hurling through space, there Private Lambert, of 
the Richmond Howitzers, turned and gazed around, taking in the 
whole situation. He was attached to the right-hand gun. 

"I had just rammed the charge home, the other had primed the 
piece and the gunner had hastily sighted at the line of blue, which 
was not seventy yards distant. The cannon was charged to the 
muzzle. 

" 'All right!' cried the sergeant. 



574 JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

"The detail scattered to right and left, the lanyard was just 
about to be pulled, when up spoke Private Lambert : 

" 'Hold up, men.' His military intuition had caught a great 
idea. The arm nerved to pull the string relaxed ; he sprang to 
the trail of the gun, and calling upon me to help him up, he seized 
the handspike and slung it around in a semicircle until the muz- 
zle projected over the right angle so as to rake the breastwork. 
The mouth of the gun was only a few feet from the right of the 
enemy's line which stood pouring its volley into the Texans. 
The man who held the lanyard, instantly divining Lambert's 
wishes, gave the line a jerk. The charge exploded with a thun- 
dering report and the cannon, full from the belly to the throat, 
raked the whole line. 

"For a few moments the smoke which poured forth hid the 
scene, but it soon lifted, and there were the ranks motionless, 
dazed, turned into statues. Even the Yankee soldiers, who held 
their muskets leveled, with fingers upon the triggers, seemed to 
have forgotten to fire, and turned their terror-stricken counte- 
nances and looked in the direction from whence came that stun- 
ning report — that fatal shot. It was as mortal as the dart hurled 
at Phaeton. 

"Then the whole force, demoralized for the time, hesitated. 
The delay was fatal. The yells of the Rebel reserves were heard 
as they hurried to the front, and put new life into the defenders. 
The Texans hearing this, sent forth a burst of fire and charged 
•over the breastwork into the foe. 

"Broken and shattered by that terrible flanking discharge, and 
feeling that the assault was a failure, they ran into and stam- 
peded the third Hne of supports, and all retreated to the friendly 
shelter of the woods. 

"It was a glorious victory, plucked from out the very jaws of 
defeat. The artillerymen were at first utterly dumfounded at 
the magic power of one shot, and the inexplicable rout of the foe 
at the very moment when the cheer of triumph was lingering 
upon their lips. An examination of the ground along the breast- 
works revealed the mystery. 

"Heavens, what a shot! Private Lambert, with that quick- 
ness of perception which makes military genius of the highest 
kind, whether found in the general or the rank and file, per- 
ceived that it would be more fatal to enfilade the line than to fire 
across the field at the supports. He had the nerve, in that mo- 
ment of supreme danger, to carry out the plan. When he 



PRIVATi: LAMBERT S SHOT 575 

whirled the gun sharply around, the muzzle covered a long line 
of some four hundred yards, which, owing to the breastwork of 
the battery being some twelve feet in advance of the rifle-pits, 
had the effect of raking the entire line, just as boys climb the tele- 
graph poles by nailing foot pieces, so as to fire along the wire 
when the swallows sit close together. 

"But that cannon shot! The effect was awful! Such a deadly 
discharge was never fired before in America. Eleven lay killed. 
Those close to the gun were so mangled as to be past recogni- 
tion of anything like humanity. Twenty-seven wounded, nearly 
all fatally, most of the poor fellows dying soon after being car- 
ried into the field hospital. 

"The Texans crowded up, and in their hearty soldier fashion 
congratulated the Howitzers in extravagant terms, sincere and 
honest, however, and the artillerymen felt that a compliment from 
them, as far as fighting was concerned, was the highest praise 
they could ever receive. 

"General Pendleton, Chief of Artillery, visited the field that eve- 
ning and said that it could not be equaled in the annals of war; 
yet Private Lambert is 'Private Lambert' still. He was honored by 
having his name read at dress parade, but that was all. Napoleon 
would have made him colonel of artillery on the spot. He had 
shown that he had the born intuition of a soldier, without which all 
military training is lost ; yet 'Private Lambert' will remain 'Private 
Lambert.' " 

It must have been this incident that Major Robert Stiles, a mem- 
ber of the Howitzers, speaks of in his book, "Four Years under 
Marse Robert'' (p. 254) : 

"The troops supporting the two Napoleon guns of the How- 
itzers were, as I remember, the Seventh (or Eighth) Georgia and 
the First Texas. Toward the close of the day everything 
seemed to have quieted down, in a sort of implied truce. There 
was absolutely no firing, either of musketry or cannon. Our 
weary, hungry infantry stacked arms and were cooking their 
mean and meagre little rations. Some one rose up, and looking 
over the works— it was shading down a little toward the dark — 
cried out : 'Hello ! What's this ? Why, here come our men on 
a run, from — no, by Heavens! it's the Yankees!' and before any- 
one could realize the situation or even start toward the stacked 
muskets, the Federal column broke over the little work, between 
our troops and their arms, bayoneted or shot two or three who 
were asleep, and dashed upon the men crouched over their low fires 



576 JOHNNY REB AND BIL,I,Y YANK 

— with cooking utensils instead of weapons in their hands. Of 
course the}^ ran. What else could they do? 

"The Howitzers — only the left, or Napoleon section, was there 
— sprang to their guns, swinging them around to bear inside our 
lines, double-shotted them with canister and fairly spouted it into 
the Federals, whose formation had been broken in the rush and 
the plunge over the works, and who seemed to be somewhat 
massed and huddled and hesitating, but only a few rods away. 
Quicker almost than I can tell it, our infantry supports, than 
whom there were not two better regiments in the Army, had 
rallied and gotten to their arms, and then they opened out into 
a V-shape, and fairly tore the head of the Federal column to 
pieces. In an incredibly short time those who were able to do so 
turned to fly and our infantry were following them over the en- 
trenchments ; but it is doubtful whether this would have been 
the result had it not been for the prompt and gallant action of 
the artillery." 

Take another instance, this time from my own command. 

Let the following tell the tale : 

"Hdqrs. Cav. Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. 

"April 14th, 1864. 
"Colonel : 

"I have the honor to report the following affair (petite guerre) 
which occurred near Catlett's Station on the nth instant: 

"Privates Richard Lewis and A, A. Marstella, both of Black 
Horse Cavalry, met with a party of four officers of the regular 
army, U. S. Army (a captain and three lieutenants). These two 
gallant scouts attacked the party, Lewis confronting the leading 
two, while Marstella presented his pistol at the two in the rear. 
One of these, Captain (Samuel) McKee, of the Second U. S. In- 
fantry, offered resistance but was eventually killed. Not, how- 
ever, until he had fired twice at his assailant. The Captain's com- 
rade took advantage of this rencounter and escaped. Marstella 
having despatched McKee, reinforced Lewis, when the two re- 
maining officers surrendered. They are First Lieutenants 
(James) Butler and (Thomas) Burns (Byrne?) of the Second U. 
S. Infantry, evidently veterans promoted for meritorious conduct 
from the ranks. They have been brought safely to my head- 
quarters. This all took place within a short distance of the camp 
of a portion of the Fifth Federal Corps. 

"The commanding general's attention is respectfully invited to 



PRIVATE IvAMBERT S SHOT 577 

these instances of the exhibition of extraordinary bravery and 
individual prowess. The officers were all armed and mounted, 
were veterans of the Regular Army — one says twenty years in the 
service. 

"Would it be improper to send this report to His Excellency 
the President? 

**Most respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"J. E. B. Stuart, 
"Major-General. 
"To CoL. W. H. Taylor, 

"A. A. General \ 

"(Indorsement No. i.) 
"Headquarters Army Northern Virginia. 
"April 15th, 1864. 
"Respectfully forwarded for the information of the Department 
in connection with this report on the same subject transmitted 
yesterday. R. E. Lee, 

"General. 
"(Indorsement No. 2.) 

"April 28th, 1864. 
"Respectfully submitted to the President in compliance with a 
suggestion of General Stuart. As a bold deed it may instruct 
and please. J. A. Sedden, 

"Secretary of War." 

'^May instruct and please!" As if the war was conducted for 
that purpose. Both of these scouts were educated gentlemen, 
well qualified to command a regiment, yet they remained privates 
in the ranks. 

What an army could have been made, had valor and skill been 
the sole prerequisite to promotion. The efficiency of the Army of 
Northern Virginia would have been greatly increased. But Mr. 
Davis opposed such proceedings, and the privates made no pro- 
test. "When we are an established nation," I have heard hun- 
dreds say, and have said the same myself, "then I will join the 
Regular Army and claim that rank which rightfully belongs to 
me." 



37 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

A TYPICAI. VIRGINIA PLANTATION. 

I remained nearly six weeks in this charming retreat. Edehn 
had left days before, so fat that he had hard work to cram him- 
self into his uniform. By the aid of crutches I could amble my 
way readily, and so I determined to spend the rest of my fur- 
lough at the old family estate in south-side Virginia. 

Two days of travel, broken by many delays, brought me to 
ancient Tower Hill, a grand old estate of a couple of thousand 
acres, situated on the Nottoway River, some twenty-five miles 
south of Petersburg, and which for two hundred years had been 
known by no other name. 

The mansion was the kind often seen on the Hudson River a 
century ago ; wide and roomy, with steep Dutch roof and dormer 
windows. On the left, about twenty yards distant, was ranged the 
double kitchen, the work-rooms, a meat-house, chicken coops, 
and store-rooms. In front of this, diagonally, were two large cot- 
tages used by members of the family and guests; one, especially, 
being given over to the bachelors, of whom there was always a 
relay on hand. 

Shadowing the ladies' cottage was an immense English oak, 
which was the pride of the place. Upon the left was the cotton- 
house, peanut rooms and granaries. A large barn stood near, 
flanked by a long row of corn-houses. 

Down in a hollow, about a hundred yards from the mansion, 
were the quarters of the slaves, scattered without order and gen- 
erally built under the projecting arms of some big tree. A neat 
white-washed paling enclosed each house and garden, for these 
were the slaves' perquisites, their mistress buying up all their 
produce, which often ran up to a large sum. Everything about 
their cabins was neat and clean, and they were compelled to obey 
the sanitary orders of my aunt, who was the queen of that com- 
mune. 

Down the road, next the vast orchards, was the still-house and 
the various buildings attached; here was stilled every year hun- 
dreds of gallons of apple brandy, the neighbors sending their 
carts loaded with apples to the still as regularly as they sent their 
grain for grinding to the mill. 



A TYPICAIv VIRGINIA PLANTATION 579 

Tower Hill worked over two hundred slaves, and looked like 
a thriving, industrious village. It was self-supporting. The 
sheep furnished the wool, and there were regular carders and 
spinners as well as dressmakers and tailors. My cousins were all 
becomingly dressed from the looms, and my uncle had a tasty 
Confederate uniform made entirely upon the place. Everybody 
was proud of that costume, from the little darky who picked the 
wool, to my aunt who furnished the Hungarian knot on the 
sleeve. 

Superabundance of everything was here ; chickens by the thou- 
sands, hogs by the hundreds in the woods, while droves of 
cattle fattened on the island, a portion of the estate about three 
miles from the house. The cellar was stored with barrels of old 
apple and peach brandy, w^hile the store-room was a sight to 
behold, crammed with pickles and preserves. 

The house and cottages w^ere filled with guests and members 
of the family, refugees who had abandoned their homes in the 
enemy's lines and had flocked to the old roof tree, there to await 
the issue of arms. Over twenty-five of the kinsmen sat at the 
table every day, and the usual peaceful routine was kept up. 

The elder sisters kept school for the younger, the matrons 
sewed for the soldiers, the mistress took her husband's place in 
the supervision of the estate, and the slaves worked along con- 
tentedly, though freedom could be had for the asking. A request 
to leave was granted by the master through necessity, for if re- 
fused, the slave had only to walk off into the Yankee camps, which 
almost surrounded this section. 

Suffolk, about twenty miles north, and Reams' Station east, 
were both occupied by the Union forces, who welcomed all contra- 
bands; yet during the whole four years of the war only four 
slaves left Tower Hill, showing that the mild, paternal govern- 
ment to which they were subject was not hateful to them, and 
that they were willing to wait for freedom, but would never have 
lifted their fingers to strike off their fetters. 

They worked easily and were not driven. They had their 
hogs and poultry, and some had milch cows, and all took pride in 
their gardens. Every one was comfortably clothed, and as it 
was a famous game country, their larders were well stocked, not 
only with hogs and hominy, but with a menu that few citizens sat 
dowai to. 

If they wanted to go to freedom and were kept back by fear, 
they had a good opportunity a few days before my arrival, for 



580 JOHNNY RE;b and BILLY YANK 

Cavalryman Wilson and his blue-jackets made the first raid of 
the war in that section, and over-ran Tower Hill for a couple of 
hours. Every darky took to the woods, and did not emerge until 
after "dem Yankees done gone." 

I must tell of this Yankee foray, for it stirred up the people 
who, though free from a direct invasion, could yet hear the boom 
of the cannonading at Petersburg. 

General Wilson started out with several thousand troopers to 
cut the Petersburg and Welden Railroad and play the mischief 
generally. He was headed off by Mahone, Fitz Lee, and W. H. 
F. Lee, and utterly routed. He burned all of his wagons, spiked 
his guns and made his way as best he could to his own lines. His 
command was scattered all over the country, trying to put the 
Nottaway between them and the cavalry of the two Lees. 

It was a cloudless hot day at old Tower Hill, on the 29th of 
June, 1864. A locust which made its home in the ancient oak fol- 
lowed the birds' matin song with his harsh treble throughout the 
heated hours. 

It was near the noon hour ; old Colonel Blow, the owner of 
the estate, sat dozing in his armchair in the shade of the oak, the 
children were in the school-room and the pack of hounds lay 
scattered around, some asleep and some snapping at the droning 
blue-bottle flies which cluster about a hound in preference to any 
other animal. 

Captain Blow, of the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry, and a finer 
soldier never followed the Southern cause, was home on a short 
furlough and had strolled down the road in the direction of 
Peter's Bridge. Feeling tired and dusty, he stopped at the foot 
of a branching cedar, and lighting his pipe, reclined in the angle of 
the snake fence. He was dreamily puffing away when he heard 
the beat of hoofs coming toward him. With the instinct of a 
true cavalryman he loosened his Colt's in the holster, and not 
dreaming of any danger, kept quiet until three blue-coats reined 
up directly in front of him. Both parties were amazed, but the 
Captain pulled himself together first and got the initial shot, 
which shattered the right arm of one of them. The other two 
shot several times, but were too excited and fired wild. Captain 
Blow's third shot struck the second blue-coat in the stomach, and 
he put spurs to his horse and rode off, followed by the others. 

It was over a mile to the house, and the thermometer was in 
the neighborhood of a hundred in the shade. Captain Blow 
weighed two hundred and ten pounds and had the lumbago 



A TYPICAL VIRGINIA PLANTATION 58 1 

badly, but he went across the fallow and field, through the 
thickets, over ploughed ground until at last, almost spent, he reached 
his dwelling. 

Seizing the huge tin horn on the kitchen shelf he blew a sturdy 
blast, then another and yet another. It was a signal for the 
hands to come to the mansion, and they dropped the hoe in the 
cornfield, left the plough in the furrow, and all, big and little, 
young and old, ran for the house. 

"Fore God, Marse William, what's de matter?" was the cry. 

"Bring my horse ; the Yankees are coming !" 

The announcement set the entire plantation in a fine commo- 
tion. The old negro-women threw their aprons over their heads 
and went into camp-meeting lamentations; the women of the 
household fied to their rooms to hide their valuables : the dusky 
maidens hied themselves like so many Dianas to the dim forests; 
the dogs barked, the guineas cackled and the dusky children 
broke into howls. 

In the meantime the Captain was not losing a moment. The 
wagons were hitched by his orders, and came lumbering into the 
yard like a battery taking position. 

The liquor was loaded the very first thing; next the trunks 
and personal effects, then the meat-house was stripped bare. 
Another gang of hands was driving all the horses, cattle, swine 
and sheep back into the woods, and every one worked with snap 
that did wonders. In half an hour the place was swept bare ; 
then the Captain upon his thoroughbred swept down the road on 
a scout, and came flying back with the startling intelligence that 
a battalion of Yankees was not a half mile distant. He cau- 
tioned the females of the family to be polite ; he warned his father, 
whose eighty years did not dim his fiery patriotism nor blunt the 
edge of his tongue, to keep strict guard over himself and give no 
provocation for violence. Then the captain galloped oft" to the 
woods, leaving half a dozen Niobes behind him. 

\\'ith a clatter, a couple of hundred Yankee cavalrymen rode 
into the yard. They were not in rank and were evidently badly 
disorganized and almost faint with hunger and fatigue; some 
were so tired that they went to sleep in their saddles the moment 
the horse stopped. 

Three officers were at their head, their uniforms torn, faces 
covered with dust and streaked with perspiration. They dis- 
mounted in the yard, from their panting, heavy horses, as did 



582 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

many of the men, who scattered around the lawn on a voyage of 
discovery. 

"Hello, there!" they shouted, "anybody at home?'' 

The door of the house opened and a delegation met them. Old 
Colonel Blow, with his head in the air and his snow-white hair 
falling beneath his Panama hat, reaching his shoulders; my aunt, 
with compressed lips and her diminutive form drawn up to its ut- 
most height ; Mammy Hettie, the ruler of the female department 
of the plantation, a tall, stately negress, who wore a white turban 
which made her dignified presence doubly imposing; several 
little negroes of the female sex, from three to five years of age, 
acting as aides, clung to her gown. 

The officers saluted, my aunt bowed, the old Colonel took off 
his hat, while Mammy Hettie's turban bobbed up and down. 

"We must search the house," said an officer. "Two of our men 
have been shot, and the bushwhacker was seen to ride in this 
direction. Here, sergeant, take a file of men and see if there are 
any damn Rebels hid away." 

"Sir!" roared the Colonel, "this is my private house. I give you 
my word of honor there is no one here except my daughters and 
their children." 

"Oh, of course not !" sarcastically said the first speaker. "Go 
ahead, sergeant." 

"I hope," said my aunt, her cheeks crimson and her eyes spark- 
ling with anger, "that you will not rob the house of anything." 

"If plunder is your object," hotly spoke up the Colonel, "your 
thieves better be quick, or you will be caught in the act." 

The captain grew angry and uttered a taunt, when the second 
officer stepped forward and urged him not to search the house, 
that he had no time and that it was a harsh proceeding anyway; 
that a house was the very last place in the world in which a bush- 
whacker would hide. So the sergeant was recalled. 

"Have you anything to drink?" asked number i, 

"No," said Colonel Blow, "the cellar is empty; but send one of 
your men down, he may be able to discover something." 

"How far is it to Petersburg?" asked number 2; "and can the 
Nottoway be forded elsewhere?" 

"About one mile down that road," answered the Colonel. "The 
river has only a few private fords. But may I ask how came you 
in such condition?" 

"Some of Wilson's damn ignorance," responded the officer. "He 
ought to be shot by drumhead court martial. Three days ago 



A TYPICAL VIRGINIA PLANTATION 583 

he Started on a wild-goose expedition against Lee's communica- 
tions, and ran into a whole Rebel cavalry brigade, supported by 
heavy infantry force, w^hich surrounded us, and a perfect trap he 
walked into — half of us killed, all our guns lost, and a few squad- 
rons like ours escaped, and for three days we have been in the saddle 
and are utterly played out." 

The old Colonel listened eagerly, and his slow pulse beat with 
the fire of youth. He was a bitter secessionist, none more so 
in the land, but he was a gentleman, and the laws of hospitality 
were as sacred as his religion ; so he said with his courtly bow, 
"Gentlemen, if you will walk up to my sideboard I can offer you 
some very fair brandy, and my daughter will provide you with a 
lunch." 

So the party proceeded to the dining-room, and my aunt put up 
food for them to take away. The men were helping themselves, 
as they soon had proof. One of "Mammy Hettie's" aides rushed 
in, her eyes bulging out, and screamed : "O jMammy Hettie ! 
dem Yankees dun ketched ole Chantyclear an' am wringin' his 
bed off!" 

Hettie sniffed, "I lubbed dat rooster ; he done wake me in de 
mornin' for years ; dunno how Fse goin' to do now." 

Another bare-legged aide, her black skin a shade paler from 
fright, came dashing in. "O Marm Hettie an' Miss Livie, de 
Yankees dun busted in de co'n-house do' an' stealin' all de co'n!" 

Mammy Hettie groaned, threw up her eyes and shook her tur- 
ban dismally. 

Still a third aide, a little kinky-haired African, fairly rolled 
into the room. "O Marm Hettie, dem Yankees is in de kitchen 
an' dun took de dinner off'n de fire!" 

"I will go and stop that," said the second officer, who was evi- 
dently a gentleman. "You need not be afraid, madam, of any 
private property being disturbed." 

In a few moments the party was assembled upon the porch. 
Old Tower Hill never beheld another such scene during its 
whole existence. There sat a score or so of cavalrymen, their 
heads upon their horses' necks, sound asleep; others were 
stretched out under the oak in the shade, some were emptying 
the corn-house and feeding their horses, others were searching 
the stables, but it is needless to add, found nothing but empty 
stalls; some were chasing the turkeys and geese over the lawn, 
and such a clattering, clucking and flapping of wings was never 
heard before. 



584 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

All at once there came a sound which struck upon every ear. 

Boom! 

"The Rebels are coming!'' cried the first officer. "Here, bugler, 
sound 'boots and saddles.' Fall in, men, fall in!" 

A dozen cannon shots, not five miles away, heard in quick suc- 
cession, quickened their motions, and soon every man was mounted. 

"Here, old woman, don't you want to go with us and be free?" 
cried a trooper to Hettie; "here's a led-horse." 

Mammy Hettie absolutely swelled with indignation. 

"Go long! I b'longs to de quality an' don't 'sociate wid such as 
you." 

"I've a great mind to blow your head off, you black imp you !" 
shouted the trooper, whose temper was not improved by the laughter 
of his comrades. 

"I ain't no imp. You jes' better look out, our sogers jes' gobble 
you all up; see ef de' don't!" 

"Shut up, old kink-head," shouted back the trooper. 

"You better be gwine off here. Ef our sogers done see you dar 
will be some tall runnin' ; dun run yourself near to def now. Ho, 
ho, ho!" and Mammy Hettie danced a war dance on the lawn. 

Another peal from the cannon hastened their departure and 
the irregular body soon disappeared down the road. So ended 
the first and last raid on old Tower Hill, whose secluded position 
was its best safeguard. 

By night all the wagons had returned with their stores, the cattle 
were driven back into the farmyard, and the irruption left nothing 
but a memory which is talked of to this day. 

The soldier who was shot by Captain Blow died in a short time 
and was buried not far from where he fell — one of the thousand 
Northerners who fell in single combat and whose name was marked 
"missing" on the roster, and w^hose fate could only be conjectured 
by his comrades and kinsmen. 

Many of those missing were ascribed to bushwhackers, but 
there was little of that in Virginia. Those Federal troopers 
owed their taking off to regularly enrolled partisan rangers, or 
soldiers on furlough, who rarely used severe measures unless 
cornered. 

Those rangers conducted war on the same plan exactly as 
Morgan, and Marion, the Swamp Fox, did in the dark days of the 
Revolution, and history has ennobled the men of Seventy-six in 
high honor, not degraded them. 

Speaking of Marion, the "Swamp Fox," as the British called 



A TYPICAL VIRGINIA PLANTATION 585 

him, reminds me of a steel engraving that hung over the mantel 
in my home. It portrayed the dinner given by i\Iarion to some 
captured officers of Tarleton's command, and was nothing more 
nor less than some roasted sweet potatoes. 

I would gaze upon the picture in boyish wonder, and think if 
it was really true that men could live on such diet? 

In war times, when nearly famished, I often recalled that pic- 
ture, and would think, "O, how happy I could be if I only had 
some of General Marion's potatoes!" 



CHAPTER XXV. 
The capital in the dog days. 

A couple of months at Tower Hill made me one of the army 
of convalescents, and discarding crutches I pushed my way to Rich- 
mond, determined to rejoin the Black Horse as soon as prac- 
ticable. 

August was a succession of blazing, scorching weather; in the 
daytime the rays of the sun beat down with blinding heat. The 
torrid waves seemed to hang palpable and lurid in the thorough- 
fares. Every one fled to the shade, and with the exception of the 
always-toiling ambulance, Richmond seemed as a deserted town. 
But after the sun set the city awoke; shutters and doors were 
thrown open and the streets were gay with mingled colors. On 
every porch sat white-robed ladies, their snowy dresses contrast- 
ing with the inevitable gray uniforms; wounded and conva- 
lescent soldiers would be seen in all directions, with every variety 
of hurt ; some with faces bandaged, others with their bodies 
swathed, arms and legs in splints, or worse still, recently ampu- 
tated, they walked, hobbled or rode, enjoying the night wind which 
cooled the torrid atmosphere. 

At this time soldiers and people were radiant with hope, and 
all thought the war would soon end. 

Indeed, to such a pitch had their confidence reached, that the 
young men and maidens, when they entered into an engagement 
to marry, agreed that it should take place as soon as the treaty 
of peace between the two sections was signed. 

It is true that the people had often been buoyed up with 
proud hopes, only to have them dashed to the earth again, but 
their belief had rarely been so firm before. Their faith, like a 
river that ebbed and flowed, was now at high-water mark, and 
well it might have been ; a glance at the military situation showed 
that the gigantic plans of the foe were in every case foiled. 

The splendid Army of the Potomac, one hundred and fifty 
thousand strong, which left the Rapidan on the second of May, 
en route to Richmond, after some ten weeks of constant fighting, 
in which it met check after check, still advanced until shocked 
and paralyzed by the fearful slaughter of Cold Harbor. It then 
gave up the cherished plan of a straight overland march to Rich- 



the; CAPlTAIv IN THE DOG-DAYS 587 

mond, and transferred the scene of operations to the south side, 
going into an entrenched camp. 

Butler, who with over twenty thousand men was to storm and 
capture Richmond in the rear, was himself assailed with resist- 
less fury by Beauregard, and driven back in disorder, lay inert 
imder shelter of his guns, amusing himself in the meantime by 
digging the Dutch Gap Canal, and shooting mortar shells in the 
night ; a species of pyrotechnics that amused and amazed all the 
negroes who lived along the banks of the classic James, and caused 
them to wonder "what dem Yankees was doin', bustin' fire in de 
air dat away." 

General David Hunter, who started with boasting words on his 
lips as he headed a column up the wide, fertile Valley, with some fif- 
teen thousand men, whose task it was to capture Lexington, de- 
stroy the canal, which was one of the main arteries supplying 
the Rebel Capital with sustenance, and to burn Lynchburg, de- 
molish the railroad and thus isolate Richmond, was met on his 
way as he was ravaging the fair country with fire and sword, by 
Early, and forced to a rapid flight, and barely succeeded in saving 
his demoralized command from annihilation. 

Sigel, the ever-trying but unfortunate Sigel, who advanced to 
capture Staunton, was met at New Market by Breckenridge and 
the infant battalion of the Virginia Military Institute, and driven 
in headlong haste across the Shenandoah. 

The great cavalry raids by Wilson and Kautz, which aimed to 
destroy the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad, and even hoped to 
seize and ravage Petersburg, were defeated and shorn of half 
their force by capture and death. The raiders, totally disorgan- 
ized, made their way in groups and singly to their own lines. 

General Sheridan, the greatest cavalry leader the North pro- 
duced, at the head of a superb array of horsemen, well mounted, 
thoroughly equipped, whose ultimate destination was Charlottes- 
ville, started for Gordonsville to burn the depot with all its supplies 
and munitions of war. He was met at Trevillian Station by 
Hampton, and the hardest, most deadly cavalry combat ever 
fought on the American continent took place, and Sheridan was 
hurled back with great loss. 

Now there was for a short time a breathing spell, and as the 
people looked back upon the past two months and witnessed all 
these victories and the unconquerable temper of our armies, is it 
strange that they thought the end near — an end full of proud ex- 
ultation and triumph, not tears and woe? 



588 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

Nor was this all. The Army of Northern Virginia, notwith- 
standing the terrible ordeal it had just undergone, was in the best 
of health and defiant in spirit. There was not a private in the 
ranks who did not feel assured of success. 

On the Northern side all was gloom and despair. This loved 
Army of the Potomac had sustained its magnificent prestige in 
scores of battles but at dreadful cost. Six thousand of^cers, the 
■very flower of the North and West, were killed or wounded in the 
brief space of two months, while the privates of the rank and file 
had fallen by the thousands. The advance of the army was but 
a succession of storming parties, and men fell like leaves in the 
roaring tempest. Grant's loss was greater than the whole army 
of his adversary. 

The North resounded with the moans of the widow and 
orphan, and as the President of the United States witnessed the 
rapid decimation of Grant's ranks he might well have exclaimed 
passionately, as did Augustus to his unfortunate general, "Varus, 
Varus, what hast thou done with my legions?" 

Cold Harbor was the climax to the score of battles fought 
north of the James, and the result, that five thousand officers and 
forty-seven thousand of the rank and file of Grant's army were 
killed and wounded ; one-half of the best and bravest, leaving the 
other half badly shaken and with no stomach for further fighting. 
The sun of the Union seemed, in June and July, to be slowly sinking 
in a sea of blood. 

Major Robert Stiles, in his deeply interesting book (page 287) 
says : 

''So much for the amount, the disproportion, and the cause of 
the slaughter. A word now as to the effect of it upon others 
than the immediate contestants. Is it too much to say that even 
Grant's iron nerve was for the time shattered? Not that he 
would not have fought again if his men would, but they would 
not. Is it not true that he so informed President Lincoln; 
that he asked for another army ; that, not getting it, or not 
getting it at once, he changed his plan of campaign from a fight- 
ing to a digging one? Is it reasonable to suppose that when he 
attacked at the Bloody Angle or at Cold Harbor, he really con- 
templated the siege of Petersburg and regarded those operations 
as merely preparatory? Is it not true that, years later. Grant 
said — looking back over his long career of bloody fights — that 
Cold Harbor was the only battle he ever fought that he would 
not fioht over asfain under the same circumstances? Is it not 



THE CAPITA!, IN the: DOG-DAYS 589 

true that when first urged, as President, to remove a certain Dem- 
ocratic office-holder in California, and later, when urged to give 
a reason for his refusal, he replied that the man had been a 
standard-bearer in the Army of the Potomac, and that he would 
allow- something very unpleasant to happen to him before he 
would remove the only man in his army who even attempted to 
obey his order to attack a second time at Cold Harbor? Is it 
not true that General Meade said the Confederacy came nearer 
to winning recognition at Cold Harbor than at any other period 
during the war? Is it not true that, after Grant's telegram, the 
Federal Cabinet resolved at least upon an armistice, and that Mr, 
vSeward was selected to draft the necessary papers, and Mr. 
Swinton to prepare the public mind for the change? And finally, 
even if none of these things be true, exactly as propounded — 
yet is it not true, that Cold Harbor shocked and depressed the 
Federal Government and the Northern public more than any 
other single battle of the war?" 

A brief epitome of some of the salient features and results of 
the campaign of 1864, from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, in- 
clusive, may not be devoid of interest. 

The campaign covered, say sixty miles of space and thirty days 
of time. General Lee had a little under 64,000 men of all arms 
present for duty at the outset, and he put Jiors de combat of 
Grant's army an equal number man for man. Mr. Swinton, p. 
482 of his "Army of the Potomac." puts Grant's loss at "above 
sixty thousand men;" so that Grant lost in killed and wounded 
and prisoners more than a thousand men per mile and more than 
two thousand men per day during the campaign. 

Again, Lee had, as stated, at the start, present for duty, less 
than 64,000 men. and the reinforcements he received numbered 
14,400 men; so that, from first to last, he had under his command 
in this campaign, say 78,400 men; while Grant's had at the start, 
present for duty, 141,160 men, and the reinforcements he re- 
ceived numbered 51,000 men; so that from first to last he had 
under his command in this campaign, say 192,160 men. 

Grant took nine days to recover from the effects of Cold Har- 
bor, and Lee was preparing to strike. Early, in his "Memoirs," 
says : "Notwithstanding the disparity which existed, he was anx- 
ious, as I know, to avail himself of every opportunity to strike 
an offensive blow ; and just as Grant was preparing to move 
across James River, with his defeated and dispirited army, Gen- 
eral Lee was maturing his plans for taking the offensive; and in 



590 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

Stating his desire for me to take the initiative with the corps I 
then commanded, he said : 'We must destroy this army of 
Grant's before he gets to the James River. If he gets there it will 
become a siege, and then it will be a mere question of time.' " 

All Grant's strategic campaign had failed. Sheridan's grand 
swoop with ten thousand horsemen to seize Richmond, and Hun- 
ter's advance to the southwest to capture Lynchburg, were utter 
failures. The Federal march up the Valley to take Staunton 
was foiled and the hammer of Thor stopped for a time, for the 
arm was too weak to wield the weapon. 

If a pitched battle in the open had occurred any time between 
the 15th of June and the ist of August the Federal army would 
have gone to pieces. A true statement of the facts of Grant's 
overland campaign will be sufficient to show this. 

The Northern people were not informed of the true state of 
affairs in the front. Correspondents of the independent type 
were sternly repressed. 

It was Mr. Stanton the astute Secretary of War, who hit upon 
the novel plan of selecting a well-known correspondent and jour- 
nalist and placing him at the Commander-in-Chief's headquarters, 
where he could obtain all the inside information, and thus write 
the unadulterated truth. It was a great scheme, and it worked 
well until the people "caught on," and then it was abandoned. 

The journalist in this case was Mr. Charles A. Dana, acting at 
the time as Assistant Secretary of War. 

If Mr. Dana, with all his facilities for gathering news, wrote 
truthfully of the events of the day, he must have been very 
dense. If he did not write as he thought, then he was guilty of 
gulling the public, and of running a kind of confidence game. 

The Presidential election was in full swing, and bad news from 
the front emboldened the Peace faction and strengthened the 
Democratic party under the leadership of General McClellan, the 
former idol of the Army of the Potomac. 

Mr. Dana's letters from the front were all coleur de rose. 
Every Rebel charge v^as repulsed with awful slaughter. All the 
Union advances were successful when well supported. 

Under date of May 26th, 1864, he wrote: 

"One of the most important results of the campaign thus far 
is the entire change which has taken place in the feelings of the 
armies. 

"The Rebels have lost all confidence, and are already morally 
defeated. This armv has ceased to believe that it is sure of vie- 



THE CAPITA!, IX THE DOG-DAYS 591 

toiy. Even our officers have ceased to regard Lee as an in- 
vincible military genius. On the part of the Rebels this change 
is evinced, not only by their not attacking, even when circum- 
stances invite it, but by the unanimous statement of prisoners taken 
from them. 

"You may rely upon it, the end is near as well as sure." 

"The servant of a South Carolina officer who escaped, reports 
that he heard his master say that their losses were forty thousand 
men." (Reb. Records, Vol. 36, p. 78-79.) 

Of the great Battle of Cold Harbor he describes it as a recogni- 
zance in force. He says : 

"At noon we had developed the Rebel lines. As General Warren 
did not think an attack feasible, General Grant ordered the at- 
tack suspended." 

It was, as usual, Lee's official report that awakened the North 
to the horrors hid in the woods of Spottsylvania ; and the very 
people who cheered to the echo Grant's famous dispatch, that he 
proposed to fight it out on the overland line if it took all the 
summer, were now assailing him with the bitterest vituperation. 
Like a nervy gambler, he stood pat on his hand, and backed his 
boast, but at last he flinched when fifty-four thousand nine hun- 
dred and twenty of his best and bravest men fell by bullet and 
shell.=^ 

After Cold Harbor he crossed the south bank of the James and 
found himself where McClellan had placed his army with the loss 
of but a few hundred. 

The overland campaign will go down in history as the bloodiest 
and most fruitless ever fought. 

General Warren wrote to General Meade under date of June 
23rd, 1864. 

"All of our efforts are attended with such great difficulties 
that I believe no one can regard any future operations with any- 
thing but the deepest anxiety and solicitude, and I venture to say 
that officers and men are getting very weary and nervous. 

"I don't think the country appreciates our very trying position, 
with our unparalleled losses and exhausting efforts. We can 
scarcely say we are much nearer destroying Lee's army than 
when we were on the Rapidan. 



*Grant's loss from May 5th to June 15th, 1864, was, by the official returns, 
54,926. "Battles and Leaders," Vol. 4, p. 182. 



592 JOHNNY REB AND BII,I,Y YANK 

"I most fear Lee attacking our weakened lines, than anything' 
else." (Reb. Records, Vol. 40, p. 346.) 

The officers might plan and order, but the rank and file had 
gotten to that state where they positively refused to make an 
assault on an entrenched position; as at Cold Harbor, the divis- 
ion generals issued the order to the brigadiers; they passed it to 
the colonels, who formed their lines and the order to advance 
was given, but not a man moved ; they stood still and immovable. 

In all the desperate battles fought in the Wilderness, Grant had 
no show. Once, and once only, did fortune smile upon him, and 
that was when with a dashing, brilliant coup, Hancock broke 
through Lee's center and captured General Johnson and his 
division. Had Hancock been supported as he should have been, 
the utter defeat of Lee would have been certain; for his line 
would have been taken in the rear and rolled up without order or 
formation. 

That attack of Hancock's at daybreak was the only well-con- 
ceived plan of the campaign. It was a critical time for the Army 
of Northern Virginia, and Lee, for the first and last time, put 
himself at the head of the troops to lead the charge, and it was 
then that the troops took up the cry, "Lee to the rear!" 

Major General Francis Barlow, in his official report, dated June 
17th, 1864, says: 

"But I have not the slightest idea that the Second and Third 
Brigades of my Division can accomplish anything in the way of 
assault. There are scarcely any officers in the brigades." (Reb. 
Records, Vol. 40, p. 123.) 

General Gibbon, who commanded the crack division in the 
Army of the Potomac, in his report, dated July 30th, 1864, says: 

"My division left camp on May 3rd, 1864, with 11,062 men. 
My losses up to July 30th are 5,075 in killed and wounded alone. 
Of course it is the bravest and most efficient men that fell. It 
is always so. These facts seem to demonstrate that my troops 
which at the commencement of the campaign were equal to almost 
any undertaking, have become by this time almost unfit for any." 
(Ihid, Vol. 36. p. 434.) 

It seems that the very next day Mahone made one of his ener- 
getic, fiery attacks, and sent Gibbon's division to the rear in wild 
disorder. General Gibbon then issued the following order, which 
was read at dress parade : 



thk capitai^ in the dog-days 593 

"No. 51. 

''The result of the enemy's attack upon our position is a source 
of great mortification to the General Commanding, as it is the 
first occasion where this division has failed to sustain its de- 
servedly high reputation. The disgraceful conduct of the Second 
Brigade and portions of the Third, lost McKnight's battery." 

And now comes Hancock, the Stonewall Jackson of the Army 
of the Potomac; the sightly, shapely Hancock, whose soldiers 
never yet failed to do all that men could do when under his eye, 
who must have been stirred to the depths of his warrior-soul 
when he issued his proclamation to the veterans who had followed 
him so long. 

"General orders, No. 2.2. June 27th, 1864. 

''Major-General Hancock resumes command of the Second 
Corps. In so doing he desires to express his regret that during 
his absence from the command it suffered a disaster from the 
hands of the enemy which seriously tarnishes its fame. The 
abandonment of the line by regiments and brigades without firing 
a shot, and the surrender to the enemy of entire regiments by 
their commanders without resistance, was disgraceful and admits 
of no defense. 

"This order will be read at the head of every regiment and bat- 
talion." {Ihid, Vol. 40. p. 468.) 

One month after, Mahone won another victory, and the fol- 
lowing circular was issued by the commander of the First Army 
Corps : 

"Headquarters ist Army Corps, 
"Circular: Aug. 26th, 1864. 

"General Hancock sends me word that he has been withdraw- 
ing during the night from Ream's Station. His men are very 
much demoralized and cannot be relied upon this morning. Lost 
heavily in killed and wounded, and nine pieces of artillery." (Ibid, 
Vol. 42, p. 123.) 

To show the efforts made by Federal rank and file to get away 

from the Moloch that was claiming its thousand victims daily, the 

report of the ^Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac will 

prove interesting, and shows that conscripts, substitutes and the 

38 



594 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

like had but little patriotism. He reports under date of May 
17th, 1864: 

"A large number of sick and wounded, many of the latter 
self-mutilated, did not go to the field hospitals, nor accompany 
the regular trains, but straggled to Fredericksburg. About five 
thousand of these men were in that town at different times. 

"About 600 malingerers have been turned over to the provost 
marshal ; they got to Washington by the boat, and succeeded in 
getting off by the aid of bloody bandages and judicious limping." 
\lbid. Vol. 36, p. 235.) 

General Orlando Wilcox, commanding a Federal division, says 
in his report : 

"At 5 o'clock Hill opened with his artillery, both shot and 
shell, but did little actual damage other than demoralizing the 
men, of whom there were many, even in the old regiments, who 
never had come to fight, but to run at the first chance, or get in 
the hospitals, then Ho! for a pension afterwards." ("Battles and 
Leaders," Vol. 36, p. 573.) 

Some of the officers could not speak a word of English, says 
Hancock in his report, and had nothing in common with their 
men but panic. 

Gibbon's division was ordered to retake the works, but they 
responded feebly, and fell back to their own works when they 
were ordered to charge ; despite the expostulations and orders 
of the officers they could not be gotten to get up. 

General Francis Walker, commanding a division in the Second 
Federal Corps, says in his book : 

"On more than one occasion in July and August, 1864, the 
troops, after a march which placed them in a position advanta- 
geous to attack, failed to show a trace of elation which character- 
ized their earlier days of the campaign. The fire had burnt out." 

After the Battle of Cold Harbor the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia never felt so proud and jubilant. It is true the soldiers 
were more enthusiastic on the march to Gettysburg a year before, 
but they did not possess then that implicit confidence in them- 
selves. These troops had fought five engagements on May 6th, 
five on May 12th. and over a score since Grant crossed the Rapi- 
dan, and with one exception had held their ground in every one 
of them. 



The capital in the dog-days 595 

The whole army would have hailed with shouts of gladness 
the order to close in and settle the contest by a give and take 
until one or the other was destroyed. 

The day after Cold Harbor Lee's army was stronger than at 
the beginning of the campaign. It is true his losses were heavy, 
but reinforcements had come freely from the South, and the field 
returns on July ist, 1864, show that there were in ranks, fit for 
duty, 62,497 nien. (Reb. Records, Vol. 51, p. looi.) 

Of all men, Lee knew that the propitious hour had come to 
throw every a\'ailable man into a general attack, but he was on a 
sick bed, utterly incapable of either planning or executing. 
There was no one he could trust for such a movement ; Long- 
street, his old war horse, had been badly wounded at the begin- 
ning of the campaign, as was A. P. Hill ; Ewell was incapacitated 
by the loss of his leg, from taking an active part in a battle. 

Colonel Venable, Lee's aide-de-camp, said he hoped to deal a 
severe blow to Grant, and felt keenly his failure to carry out his 
designs. "He exclaimed, 'I am too old to command this army!' 
and he repeated the phrase as he lay sick, excited, and restless 
on his l^ed. He said again and again, 'We should never permit 
these people to get away.' Some of us who were standing be- 
side him felt that in his heart he was sighing for that great right 
arm which he threw around Hooker at Chancellorsville." 

There was no one whom Lee could entrust his army with. 
The troops stood ready but the man was absent. 

When Grant passed his legions to the south side of the James 
River all hope of a favorable attack was gone, for Grant set his 
whole army to work entrenching, and every able-bodied contra- 
band was armed with a spade and pick. General Ord alone had 
three thousand negroes erecting breastworks, the most elaborate 
system of defensive works ever devised by man ; they consisted 
of fortifications, protected by fosses, moats, ditches, with strong 
chevaux-de-frisc, while outside were miles of entrenchments. 

By the field returns of the Army of the Potomac the Chief 
Engineer reported as finished 68 forts for 605 guns. Nor was 
this all — the system of defense was so arranged that if one fort 
was captured, a concentric fire from a score of redoubts could 
be poured in, making the place untenable. 

General Lee wrote to Jeff. Davis on June 15th, 1864: 

''To attack the enemy here I must assault with a very strong line 



596 JOHNNY REB AND BILI^Y YANK 

of entrenchment and run a great risk to the safety of the army." 
(Reb. Records, Vol. 51, p. 1003.) 

Many and odd are the chances of war. Even the god Homer 
nodded sometimes, and for once Lee was caught napping, for 
General Ord crossed to the south side of the James and united 
with Butler, and had Petersburg in his grasp before Lee dreamed 
of his danger. 

But Ord's men had no stomach for charging the breastworks, 
which were manned only by the citizens of the city, and after 
one or two feeble attempts, he postponed the attack until the 
next day, and by that time reinforcements were rushed forward, 
and Butler's attempt failed. 

It was a case of a "Roland for an OHver" a few days later, 
when Beauregard planned a campaign of consummate daring and 
skill to capture Butler's army. 

Pickett was to strike his front, and when fully engaged, Gen- 
eral Whiting, with his division, which was stationed at Chester, 
midway between Richmond and Petersburg, was to slip in his 
rear. 

Pickett performed his share of the work and made a stunning 
attack, but Whiting did not move all day ; in fact he was help- 
lessly drunk, and the brilliant movement, which promised so much, 
ended in a fiasco. 

Whiting was relieved of his command and sent to Fort Fisher. 
He was a regretful, sorrowful man ever afterward; but the dam- 
age was done, the chance the Rebels had for a brilliant victory 
was lost, and a dread disaster to the Army of the Potomac was 
averted by what some of their officers said was a miracle, but in 
reality was a bottle of whiskey. 

In the sunny horizon which bounded the Southerners' hopes 
there was only one slight cloud which dimmed the clearness and 
occasioned fear. That cloud was not near home, though the city 
was hemmed with battle-smoke and the windows of every house 
shook and rattled with the concussion of the heavy siege-guns 
of the foe; yet they frightened no one — not even the timid girls 
nor old women, who always were predicting some fearful event. 
No! our cloud was away off in the West, and the man we feared 
was named Sherman, not Grant. 

Still our papers brought good news, and the columns of 
the Richmond Examiner caused the soldiers to shout and 
dance for joy. Extracts from the Northern papers showed that 
gloomy forebodings were indulged in ; mutterings against the 



The capital in the dog-days 597 

war, which formerly were uttered with bated breath, were now 
openly discussed in public mass-meetings. The whole North was 
w'ell-nigh speechless, and utterly sick at heart as they witnessed 
this rain of blood which soaked the earth from the Rapidan to 
the James. Murmurs against the war and the Government be- 
gan to grow from an inarticulate growl into a voice of thunder. 

The Irish in New York City had risen and threatened to end 
the war by an international conflict. The Copperhead Society 
of the great Northwest were arming and drilling. There were 
no volunteers now, for a place in the Army of the Potomac 
meant a place in the hospital or an unknown grave. 

Substitutes for the draughted were only to be had by the pay- 
ment of thousands of dollars, and were unreliable as soldiers. 
Bounty-jumpers swarmed like the lice of Egypt. Corruption 
reigned in high places, and patriotism was forgotten by many in 
the mad rush for wealth. Shoddy reigned supreme, and flaunted 
its diamonds and trailed its velvets in the blood-laden air. The 
patriots of the North, who loved the Union better than their for- 
tunes or their lives, began to look into one another's eyes to 
find comfort in this carnival of death. 

Gold, that unfailing barometer of public opinion, had risen to 
a premium of three hundred per cent, and the most thoughtful 
capitalists of the North were beginning to think that arbitration 
could conquer more than the sword. 

The sole hope of the Union seemed to be centered in the su- 
perb army of Sherman. 

As for us, such confidence was felt in our Army of the West, 
under Johnston, that we all felt that "Old Joe" would pull through 
all right 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE soldiers' home. 

I was again an inmate of the Robertson Hospital as a guest, 
and attended many starvation parties, and the spasmodic gaieties 
of the Rebel Capital. I was unable to dance, but at least could 
look on those who did, and I was in for a real "Claude j\Iel- 
nott" campaign, when the boudoir and the parlor were ex- 
changed for a military prison in the most sudden and unforeseen 
manner. 

The dreamy stillness of the hot summer was broken by the 
loud alarm bell which hung high in a tower in Capitol Square, 
where its tones pealed forth like the chimes in a Turkish mosque. 
It called the faithful, not to prayers, but to battle. Then ensued 
scenes of wild excitement amongst the bombproofs. There were 
hurryings to and fro of my countrymen ; Government clerks, who 
loved their flesh-ix)ts better than any country on earth ; auction- 
eers, actors, cooks, hospital nurses, all details, city exempts, vag- 
abonds and riff-raff, all were obliged to obey that tocsin of war 
and seize the rifle with their soft hands. Pale were the cheeks, 
hollow the eyes, trembling the lips and fluttering the hearts of 
the citizens' battalion, as in the dead of night, by the lantern's 
glare, they looked in each other's white, ghostly faces and mut- 
tered in accents hoarse : 

"The foe! they come! they come!" 

Orders were issued for all furloughed ofticers and soldiers to 
report to the provost marshal ; for it seems that one of the chief 
forts of the defenses around Richmond, called Battery Harrison, 
was taken by a sudden charge, and it was feared that Richmond 
would be stormed by the whole Northern army. Every musket 
that could be fired — every finger that could press a trigger was 
at a fancy price just then. 

There was a wide gulf between the regulars and the home 
guards. If there was one thing an old veteran hated, it was being 
placed, hit or miss, promiscuously in the ranks amongst a mon- 
grel crowd, and marched to the trenches as militia, and they hid 
and lay perdu, despite old General Winder's order, he being, by 
the way, the last person on earth to act in that stern martial ca- 



THE SOLDIERS HOME. 599 

pacity ; a superannuated patriot, by the Grace of God and Jeffer- 
son Davis, sole ruler over the safety and liberty of the citizens 
of the Capital City for the first three years of the war. The rank 
and file of the grand army did not like General Winder and were 
not slow in expressing their opinions. 

It happened that a comrade and I had a pass from General 
Lee, countersigned by his Adjutant-General, to proceed within 
the enemy's lines in Fauquier County, our object being to cap- 
ture a re-mount. Of course we felt secure, and boldly walked 
the streets and watched with keen relish the hunting down of 
those Things, or Its (for they were not men), who were dressed 
in citizen's attire. Our laugh soon changed into scowls, for 
about midnight we were stopped by a large squad of guards, and 
requested to show our passports. Our hands went into our 
pockets and produced the magic paper. 

"This pass ain't no 'count," said the officer. 

''No 'count?" repeated my comrade mechanically, forgetting 
his grammar in his amazement. 

"No!" 

"Don't you know that pass is from General Lee, Commander- 
in-Chief of the Army?" 

"I know that, but I must obey orders." 

"Orders! orders! what the dickens are your orders?" 

"We have received commands from the provost marshal to 
take up all officers and soldiers in the city of Richmond unless 
they have a passport signed by himself." 

"Provost marshal be damned !" was my comrade's irreverent 
reply. "Set out and leg it!" he shouted, making a dart down 
the street. T followed suit, but it was no go; two enfeebled con- 
valescents could not use their legs, and in a few minutes we w^ere 
in the midst of guards, objects of their especial care and tenderest 
solicitude. 

"You had better let us go, Melish." we said. "If you don't re- 
spect this pass there will be the Old Scratch to pay in the army." 

"I must obey my instructions," he replied; "I am only a lieu- 
tenant and whatever my captain says I've got to do. My orders 
are to arrest every soldier and every citizen unless he has a pass 
from the provost marshal." 

"O for a squadron of Black Horse Cavalry," I sighed, "just to 
run this riff-raff provost guard out of the city!" 

"O for a company of the old First Maryland, to scatter old 



600 JOHNNY REB AND BIL,LY YANK 

Winder's gang and to hang the old provost from the first tree,*' 
swore my companion. 

"Come along ; I can't wait here all night," said the leader. 

"Where are you going to take us?" 

"To the Soldiers' Home." 

"To the Soldiers' Home? Good Heavens, lieutenant, we are 
not deserters or jail-birds." 

"Can't help it, I obey orders. Forward, march !" said the 
officer. 

So, joining the crowd of unfortunates, we were taken into the 
gloomy depths of the forbidding building known as the Soldiers' 
Homeland nick-named Castle Thunder; truly a misnomer, and 
the very irony of the word could go no farther. It was used as 
a place of rest and detention for all those furloughed soldiers 
who had neither friends to stop with nor money to pay for their 
lodgings. It occupied the same relation to the veteran as the 
station-house does in peaceful times to the- outcasts and friendless 
of a great city. As for it being a home — well, if there were any 
soft memories which could be coffined up in those sombre walls, 
they could only be the result of a morbid imagination. 

All soldiers suspected of crime and waiting trial, all absentees, 
deserters and camp followers convicted of light crimes were 
placed in that house, around which was stationed a strong cordon 
of sentinels with relief and details. Into the guard-room we were 
marched. 

\\'e found the prison flavor so strong that it was not surprising 
that nothing but the direst necessity from hunger or cold ever 
tempted the veteran to voluntarily seek shelter there. It was 
a horribly filthy place, and when a Reb was seen unusually squalid 
and dirty the bovs in the street would yell at him, "There goes one 
of the Castle Thunder fish !" 

We were turned loose in a large room on the first floor, a wide, 
lofty apartment which traversed the length of the whole building. 

What a sight was there ! The room was lighted by gas jets 
which revealed, without a shadow of disguise, the nasty unclean- 
liness of the place. It was crowded with about as conglomerate 
a mixture of humanity as could be found anywhere on earth; 
the summons to arrest all without passes, but newly issued, had 
caught very many without the coveted document, for as the pa- 
pers were only written that day, but few had the time or thought 
the necessity so urgent as to inconvenience themselves to the ex- 
tent of obtaining them. They paid dearly for their neglect. Old 



thk soldiers' home. 6oi 

gentlemen returning from their places of business were unceri- 
moniously hustled into the prison ; actors coming from the thea- 
ter, hospital stewards carrying messages, wounded soldiers from 
the hospitals hobbling along the streets, gay and festive blockade- 
runners, teamsters strolling in from Camp Lee to see the sights, 
saw them in a way they little dreamed ; farmers from the coun- 
try, — all were caged together, looking- as disconsolate as a col- 
lection of street dogs that have been gathered to the pound by 
the dog-catchers. 

In this vast apartment, filled with all these people, there was 
not a single bed, trunk, bench or chair. A more ingenious mode 
of torture could not be invented. Many of the unfortunates were 
delicate citizens, wounded soldiers or sick convalescents, and by 
order of the provost marshal were compelled to stand the long night 
through. One, a wounded, white, ghostly-looking shadow, who 
had been scooped up by the drag-net, died before morning. 

Some few who had blankets spread them close to the walls, 
and with the philosophy that would have done honor to the Stoics 
grumbled not nor cursed, but went quietly to sleep. Those who 
were less fortunate could not persuade themselves to lie on that 
floor. The grease, the accumulation of years, covered the planks 
with a crust of black half an inch thick, and was as sticky as tar. 
On top of this, scattered thickly, were the remains of rations, 
parings of loud-smelling bacon and cheese, ashes from pipes, 
stumps of cigars, shallow pools of tobacco juice, blood which 
had dropped from neglected wounds, vomit from weak stomachs, 
all welded by the trampling feet into a horrible repulsive mire. 

To the soldiers who were well and strong a tramp all night 
was no great matter, but to the weak it was a fearful strain, and 
hour by hour they walked or staggered through the room, taking 
good care not to step upon the recumbent forms, for every touch 
was resented by a volley of oaths from the irate, half-wakened 
soldier. 

The gamblers, auctioneers and gentry of that ilk had the worst 
time of all. Clad in duck, linen, and broadcloth, their stylish 
garments formed a striking contrast to the worn gray ; they 
were objects of marked attention of no very favorable kind. The 
Rebs, on the qui vive to find something on which to vent their 
ill nature, and delighted to have the means of diversion during 
the long hours, found these gentlemen out, and taunts, jibes and 
the roughest jokes were shot ofT at them singly and in volleys. 
They could do nothing and dared not reply; and at last, drawn 



602 JOHNNY REB AND BIl^IvY YANK 

together in common suffering by the merciless raillery, they cow- 
ered in one corner like a pack of trembling sheep when they see 
the marauding dog jump the fence into the field. 

The "Soldiers' Home" was that night under the charge of 
Lieutenant Bates, a Regular and not a Melish ; he was incapaci- 
tated by his wounds for serving in the field and was given light 
duty. We made during the night an energetic appeal to him 
to be liberated, and showed our pass ; but he was powerless to 
help us and told us to wait until morning, when all would be well. 

"It's easy enough to preach patience," said Edelin, "but it's 
hard to practice it, especially in a hog-pen." 

Back into the room we wandered, and it would have been a 
subject for Hogarth to fix by his magic pencil ; the sor- 
rowful, disgusted faces and the tired forms which stood under 
the glare of the gas ; some of them, rich auctioneers, would have 
given thousands of dollars for a door mat to sit upon, and as for 
the gamblers, they would have pawned their outfits for a good 
couch. One of these votaries of fortune, more enterprising than 
the rest, came up to a group of soldiers and made the proposition 
that if they would let up on him and stand by him he would start 
an impromptu faro bank and share his gains fairly among his sol- 
dier backers. A count of noses showed eight who told him to 
drive ahead, the guard being one of them. Going out, he re- 
turned with an empty barrel and keg and a piece of plank. The 
barrel was then turned upside down, the board laid across and 
the cards fastened down by pins. Getting another pack he laid 
them on the table, dispensing, from necessity, with the nickel 
dealing box. Next, turning the keg behind the barrel, the gam- 
bler took his seat, and displaying a roll of new issue as the capital 
of the bank, declared the game was ready. 

It took like wild-fire ; in a minute the table was surrounded 
by an excited, struggling mass. Arms were frantically stretched 
over shoulders to place on the cards the bets. There were no 
chips : the body-guard would count the money laid down, and 
return or replace it according to the fall of the card. If five 
dollars, the lowest limit by the way, were bet, five dollars was 
returned, and so on ; there was no limit. Next to the dealer, sit- 
ting on a dry goods box, with a huge camp kettle, like a drum 
with the cover bursted in, between his legs, filled with notes of 
different denominations, was the soldier partner. It was his 
duty to pay off all debts that were lost. When the bank won the 
dealer swept them with one wave of his hand into the brass re- 



THE SOI^DIERS' HOME. 603 

ceptacle. In half an hour the betting became high. The sol- 
diers soon lost their stray dollars, and would have broken the 
bank in another way from that laid down in sporting annals, but 
the ring, including the armed guard, drawn into strong fellow- 
ship by what Macaulay terms the "cohesive power of public plun- 
der," stood staunchly by the banker, and perfect order reigned. 
The citizens now were around the table, and as the fever took 
them the play ran high and deep. The big stakes silenced all 
noises, and every one watched with breathless eagerness the cards' 
slow slip from the dealer's hands. Many good and pious men 
gambled that night for the first time, for obli^•ion from the woes 
was worth playing for and paying for. As the day approached the 
betters thinned out, dead broke. Some walked off, others stood 
wearily by, watching the game. The few who backed against the 
bank were playing to either win or lose heavily. Thousands of 
dollars were thrown down on a single coup. None could have 
imagined that so much money, albeit it was Confederate cur- 
rency, worth about four cents on the dollar, could have been 
discovered in a chance crowd. So the gaming went on. When 
tlie betters went straight they laid on the cards ; when they cop- 
pered they used a small wooden button that came from off a 
soldier's jacket. In about three hours there were only about a 
half-dozen men around the board. 

At the beginning of the play a middle-aged man, with clean- 
shaven face, stood leaning- against a pillar trying to get a nap under 
these unwonted circumstances. Nobody knew him and nobody 
cared to ask. As he had on citizen's clothes, with a flat cap 
around which was a narrow piece of gold lace, every one thought 
him a recruiting agent or military conscript officer, or most prob- 
ably a blockade-runner, and he had just enough military flavor to 
be exempt from the soldiers' ridicule. 

As the excitement of the play increased he roused himself and 
approached the board as closely as he could ; then he folded up 
half-way a thousand-dollar bill, coppered it on the deuce and 
won. The magnitude of the stake caused the betters to instinc- 
tively make way for him until he stood close to the barrel; then his 
high play became apparent and the ring grew anxious as they 
watched him. I have seen streaks of luck around the green 
cloth, but never such a run as that man had. He had lost nearly 
all his pile, and had but one note left ; he bet on the ace, the deuce 
and tray, between which he left his bets stand intact ; the ace 
split once and they all won twelve consecutive times, and by let- 



604 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

ting his small bet of fifty dollars lay, it had doubled until it had 
reached the grand total of one hundred and two thousand four 
hundred dollars. It was marvelous — incredible, but true. 

"The bank's broke !" said the gambler, with a savage oath. "The 
crowd's broke, and damn me if I don't wish the bottom would 
fall out of all creation !" 

The lucky man gave a soldier a thousand-dollar bill for his 
oilcloth and rolled most of his money up tightly ; then, distrib- 
uting some among the soldiers, he made a handsome gift to the 
guard and asked to be conducted to Lieutenant Bates, for it was 
a risk to wander in any crowd with a bundle under one's arm 
containing a hundred thousand dollars, even though it was Con- 
federate scrip. So the blockade-runner told the lieutenant of the 
circumstances and placed the money in his charge. The owner 
recovered his liberty during the day and promptly reclaimed his 
package, and in a generous mood presented Bates with a beautiful 
gold chain. 

There may be some of the citizens and sick soldiers who look 
back upon the weary vigil of that night with feelings the reverse 
of pleasant, but the soldiers, with the exceptions, of course, of 
the unfortunates who banded themselves into a syndicate to di- 
vide the spoils, not one of them ever regretted being taken up 
and being obliged to spend the night in Castle Thunder, for it 
had given them the opportunity to witness the biggest game of 
faro that in all probability ever took place in Richmond. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

ENACTING THE ROLE OE JACK SHEPHERD. 

My comrade, Will Edelin, of Leonardtown, Maryland, was a gal- 
lant, reckless veteran of the Maryland line. 

His body was small but his ambition was boundless; and 
though diminutive in stature, he had more mischief to the square 
inch than any other soldier in the army. He was always getting 
into scrapes, but being one of the kind who are born lucky, he 
escaped the consequences of many a thoughtless act. He was 
rash to a fault and never stopped to consider what the result of 
some proposed escapade might be. 

It was Edelin who was the chief of the ring, and his losses 
tlirough the blockade runner did not improve his temper. He 
was in no less than three difficulties before an hour passed, then 
he said he felt better. 

The sun streamed through the window and the aversion to the 
dirty place was stronger than ever. Certainly had the "Prisoner 
of Chillon" felt the ardent desire for freedom that possessed our 
party, he would have made a break for liberty anyhow. 

To all who had watched and gambled the night through, a 
sickening reaction came. Heads ached to such an extent that it 
seemed as though they were loaded shells and a lighted fuse was 
onl}^ needed to blow them to pieces. Eyes burned and the bodies 
felt as though they were paralyzed. A consuming thirst kept the 
tin cup busily passing from hand to hand and every one longed 
for delivery from this dirt-begrimed place. 

Edelin grew impatient. He was hungry and I was not far be- 
hind him. But I have written so much of hunger in these pages 
that I ought really to apologize for it as a very disagreeable 
habit, — a morbid desire of always wanting to eat, which accom- 
panied our soldiers wherever they went; yet the stomach is the 
store-house, kitchen, pantry, cupboard, and chemical laboratory 
all in one. 

An indignation meeting of the most violent kind was held ; but 
beyond each man expressing his opinion and giving a piece of his 
mind in language exceedingly strong, nothing was done. A prop- 
osition to escape by making a break for the outside was at once 
negatived. They said : ''Better wait a few hours and walk 



6o6 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

out on your own free account than to be carried out upon a 
stretcher with a hole through you," so the assembly resolved, 
after invoking anathemas on everything and everybody connected 
with the "Home." 

A'ly comrade and I strolled out into the prison yard, a piece of 
ground of about an eighth of an acre, surrounded by a thick wall 
about seven feet high. Close to this and inside the enclosure was 
a guard, the only one, who paced around the four squares. 

The same thought struck us both, and when the sentinel was 
on the far side wnth his back turned, Edelin whispered, "Let's 
risk it." 

"All right," was the response, and as two soldiers came up we 
asked them to give us a leg. 

"Are you ready?" 

A backward glance showed the sentry some fifteen paces away, 
near the end of his beat, his face turned toward the prison, his 
musket on his shoulder. 

"Yes." 

"Then over you go!" and the impetus of their swing sent us up 
the wall. A short struggle and we were on the top. A great 
shout from the prisoners greeted our success, and as the guard 
swung round he saw us. ^Ve dropped on the ©ther side, which 
liappened to be the backyard of a private residence, and we had 
certainly jumped from the frying-pan into the fire, for a savage- 
looking bulldog made a dash at us. 

"Run! Run!" cried Edelin. A warning that was superfluous. 
One bound brought us to a plank fence, and how we got over we 
could never tell, but we found ourselves in a narrow alley which 
we skimmed through and only stopped when we had reached the 
open street. Assuming the leisurely gait of an ordinary pedes- 
trian, we struck for the Robertson Hospital, where we knew that 
old Winder's crew couldn't take us. for Miss Sallie would 
have died in her tracks ere she would have sufifered one of 
her patients to be disturbed. We found her a second Pythoness ; 
several of her convalescents having been taken up, she had al- 
ready been down to the provost marshal and had routed the whole 
establishment. An order had been issued for our release and 
if we had been patient for an hour longer we would have come 
out of the front door instead of rushing through the back alley. 

A huge breakfast and a nap of a couple of hours made us all 
right and primed for anything. Edelin, who was much given to 
practical jokes, proposed his plan and of course I agreed. 



ENACTING THE ROEE OF JACK SHEPHERD 6oj 

Finding that Miss Sallie was out of the way, we got muskets 
and equipments and walked boldly out on the streets, demanding 
the passports of every man we met, and playing the part of Wind- 
er's pets to perfection. Our first place was the wide and spacious 
lobby of the "Spottswood," where a large crowd was collected. 
Upon our appearance with the demand for passes, the crowd 
scattered and broke as they do in a gambling haunt when the po- 
lice are thundering at the doors. How pitiful was their talk — how- 
fertile their excuses. It ended by an apparent reluctance on our 
part to let them go, until we were invited to the bar to take some- 
thing. It was glorious fun that day, and the invitations to drink 
would have sufficed for a regiment. \\'e felt then the unutterable 
sweetness and charm of powder. 

Honor was at low ebb, for some of the captives pledged them- 
selves to be back within half an hour, only being desirous of drop- 
ping into their homes a moment to notify their families. Of 
course we never laid eyes upon them again. 

Yes, powder was sweet and we paid off some old scores that 
day. Whenever a general or colonel was met, we threw all the 
superciliousness and imperativeness we could command into our 
manners and demanded their passes or credentials. We held our 
weather eye open and whenever we saw the bona fide creature of 
the provost marshal's coming we dived down the first alley or into 
the first store we came to. This fun lasted until late into the af- 
ternoon, and then tired out and with a slightly rolling gait, we 
returned to our hospital well content. The last words Edelin 
said that night were : 

"Say, haven't we had a bully time?" 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

KN ROUTE. 

Two days later I started upon my trip northward alone, Edelin 
having given up the idea of a scout. 

Taking the train for Gordonsville in company with many sol- 
diers on their way to join their commands in the Valley, we ar- 
rived at the junction. The main train kept on to Staunton, while 
a locomotive carried me to Orange Court House, where it stop- 
ped, being the northern terminus of the road, for all communi- 
cation was blocked farther north by the Rapidan bridge having 
been destroyed. 

This ancient village seemed deserted. No dashing officers 
cantered up its streets, no streams of soldiery on the sidewalks 
gave it life, and hardly a human form was visible ; only the open 
windows and the smoke curling from the chimneys showed signs 
of life within doors. 

The first house at which we chanced to stop was our home, 
the latch-string standing ready to be pulled. 

At sunrise I left for Culpeper Court House on foot, and in 
the twenty miles which I traversed I beheld no living being. The 
region between the Rapidan and Culpeper showed in a fearful 
degree the devastation of the contest. Not a single house was 
visible and a profound silence brooded over what was but two 
years ago a veritable garden spot. 

A couple of hours' walking brought me to Brandy Station, 
which existed only in name. A blackened piece of ground 
showed where the depot once stood. In the distance, like an 
island in this waste, stood the fine mansion of John Minor Botts ; 
thither I bent my steps and received a kind greeting. 

About noon I reached the Rappahannock River and found 
that the bridge as well as the railroad had been destroyed. With 
a few beams which had floated blackened and charred to the 
bank, I soon constructed a raft which bore me across. 

I began to be cautious now, for I was in the "Debatable Land," 
and at any moment some Yankee scouting party might be pass- 
ing along and gobble me up. Keeping my eyes open, slinking 
along for several miles, I made my way to a comrade's house. 



BN ROUTE 609 

Taylor was not at home, but his wife welcomed me and gave mi- 
nute information as to the state of affairs in general. 

While on the way to Fayettesville the next day, a horseman 
cantered up. I cocked my Colt, hid it beneath my overcoat 
and awaited his coming. It proved to be Billy Thorne, of the 
Black Horse, a scout for General Wickham, who, hearing of my 
arrival from Mrs. Taylor, hastened to overtake me and join in 
any proposed raid. I was very glad to welcome him, for he 
knew every hog path and blind road in Mosby's Confederacy. 

Thorne struck for Morrisville, an exceedingly small village in 
the lower part of Fauquier County, and close to the Stafford line. 
A few miles farther on was Thome's home, which he proposed to 
make our base of operations. In the two days' travel we did 
not meet a single person. 

We knew that every house was open to us, and the temper and 
devotion of the people can be imagined when it is known that 
the following order was scattered over the region, and the citi- 
zens warned not to entertain any Rebel soldiers : 

"Headquarters Cavalry Corps. 
"Col. B. F. Davis, Commanding Brigade. 
"(Through Brig.-Gen. A. Pleasonton, Comdg. First Cav. Div.) 
"Colonel : 

"The Major-General commanding directs me to say to you that 
there are certain people, either bushwhackers or men detached 
from what is known as the Black Horse Cavalry, who operate on 
the right of and within our lines. All of whom he wishes you 
to put out of the way — no matter how, so they are gotten rid 
of. Communicate with General Gregg, near Bealeton, and he 
will, if possible, co-operate with you. 

■'Very respectfullv. your obedient servant, 

"J. H. TAYI.OR, 
''Chief of Staff.'' 

There was also an order sent from Kilpatrick, the commander 
of the cavalry, to General Merritt, commanding a brigade of 
cavalry in Fauquier County, to burn all houses that sheltered 
any Rebel scouts. 

On the evening of September twentieth, 1864, we unbuckled 
our belts and rested from our tramp. 

The loving welcome from a pretty wife which my comrade re- 
ceived made matrimony appear a double blessing, and set me 
thinking that a benedict was no fool after all. 
39 



6lO JOHNNY RDB and BII,I,Y YANK 

The next day our warlike intentions were knocked sky-high; 
we forgot our object, we forgave our enemies. We were only 
brought face to face with the fact that the sweetest, truest South- 
ern women were there, and wanted us to stay and forego our 
hopes of spoil for a time. They procured a couple of fiddlers, 
and for a week we danced and danced, sleeping in the day, and 
tripping the light fantastic from sundown to sunup. It was the 
first chance for over a year that the maidens, who had been 
cooped up in their houses, surrounded by their foes, had a chance 
to be with soldiers of their own faith, and so, 

"When youth and pleasure meet, 
They chase the golden hours with flying feet." 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

ON A HORSE RAID. 

The Black Horse had scattered, most of them having returned 
to their commands. 

A good scout and guide, Hke a poet, is born, not made. A 
thorough knowledge of woodcraft, a forest-lore which includes 
everything worth knowing, the wonderful instinct of an Indian 
for treading the pathless woods, and a perfect perception of 
every bHnd path, road and stream in the whole section, must be 
had before a trooper is fit to send out upon a scout, whether to 
pick up information or to effect a capture. Not only this, he 
must be a man of keen observation, one always suspicious, ever 
watchful and who cannot be decoyed into any trap by any wiles 
whatever. A scout might be captured by the sudden appearance 
of a raiding party, and it was held as the fortunes of war, but to 
be caught by any lure would be held as unpardonable. 

There was one man in the Black Horse who had been a sports- 
man in the ante-bellum days. As a successful turkey hunter and 
a county surveyor he had been known far and wide; the green 
woods had been his home since boyhood and his woodcraft was 
simply astonishing. Through the thickest, densest forest he could 
direct his way as straight as an arrow. Carry him blindfolded into 
the thickest timber that ever grew, and after circling around a 
little, taking his bearings, as he called it, he would get out as quick- 
ly as if he traveled by a compass. He was as fine a guide in a 
complex country as ever lived, and Billy Thorne was about as 
fine a specimen of a guide as the cavalry could boast. He could 
travel as straight as the crow flies from one point to another in 
the Piedmont section. 

Thorne had been prowling around inside of the enemy's lines 
for the last week and he saw a good chance for a couple on foot 
to capture a mount from a cavalry brigade which lay encamped 
around Burke's Station, about twelve miles from Alexandria. 

He proposed the trip to me and of course I gladly consented. 
Our preparations were quickly made, and then starting leisurely 
on foot, three days' easy walking brought us to Jack Arrington's 
in Fairfax County; a fine, roomy house situated at a cross-roads, 
and a celebrated rendezvous for the Rebel scouts. 



6l2 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

Here we found Clarke, of the Black Horse, and Courtenay, an 
infantryman on sick furlough, both of whom signified their inten- 
tion of accompanying us on the raid. Clarke and Courtenay 
being mounted it was thought best that they should return home 
and leave their horses where they would be safe from any Yankee 
raiding party which might traverse the country. Billy Thorne 
accompanied them and he came back alone, pretty badly used up 
by his hard ride. 

''Where's the rest of the boys?" asked the host. 

"Captured ! not two hours ago." 

"How?" interrogated Arrington. 

"Well, it happened this way," aswered Thorne. "About four 
miles from here we stopped at a house on the road to get dinner. 
We tied our horses by the halters inside the fence, taking off the 
bridles but leaving the saddles, and then fed the horses with corn. 
Returning to the house we had hardly sat down to the table be- 
fore the lady of the mansion rushed in crying that the Yankees 
had surrounded the place. Of course we hurried out, and there 
was a Yankee squadron in the road, yard, and all around the 
house. As soon as they caught sight of us they leveled their 
carbines and ordered us to surrender ; instead of obeying we 
struck for our horses. Courtenay tried to slip the bridle, which 
hung on the fence near, over the head of his mare, but he was in 
such furious, blind haste that he defeated his own object. Leav- 
ing the horse he jumped over the fence and took to his heels, 
hoping to reach the shelter of the woods about a hundred yards 
away. Clarke put back ; ran in and concealed himself beneath a 
bed mattress. I loosened the halter of my horse, and without 
waiting to bridle him, charged him at the fence ; he cleared it 
beautifully and kept on, and," said Thorne, "if there was one, 
there were fifty Yankees firing their pistols after me, but nary 
a bullet touched. I didn't stop until I reached here." 

"What became of Clarke and Courtenay?" inquired one of the 
Misses Arrington, who was sweet on the former. 

"Indeed I don't know, I couldn't stop to inquire," answered 
Thorne. 

After consultation, Thorne and I determined to take a posi- 
tion where the enemy would have to pass on the way to their 
camp, and see if we could help our comrades. 

The place selected was on the top of a rough, rocky hill, beneatli 
which was the very narrow road ; our elevation was almost per- 
pendicular and rose abruptly from the ground. We had hardly 



ON A HORSE RAID 613 

taken our station, when the battaHon of cavalry appeared, riding 
in twos, with the field officer in front, and passed along the con- 
tracted road not thirty paces from the boulder behind which we 
were hidden. 

It was a perfectly secure position, and we could fire down upon 
them without any danger to ourselves ; nor could they have 
chased us, for the hill was too steep. On the impulse of the mo- 
ment we drew a bead on the unconscious officer; but it was too 
cowardly. It would have been bushwhacking pure and simple 
and a Black Horseman would have been disgraced for life by 
such an act. 

As the long line passed we saw Courtenay and Clarke riding 
along in the midst of their captors. Had we pulled trigger both 
of them doubtless would have been shot by the infuriated escort, 
in retaliation. As the rear-guard passed we shouted a farew^ell to 
our comrades, which they acknowledged by lifting their hats, 
and the Yankees by a few scattering shots, which we did not re- 
turn. We then rode back to the house where our comrades had 
been captured, and found the old lady in tears ; not particularly 
on account of the misfortune of our friends, but because the last 
one of her chickens had been confiscated by the troopers. 

We learned that Clarke had soon been found, and then a score 
of Yankees dismounted, and in close skirmish order beat the 
swamp as school boys flush old hares, and they discovered Cour- 
tenay hidden behind a log. With many good-natured jeers they 
made him get up and return with them. This command, the old 
lady informed us, was four companies of the famous Eighth Illi- 
nois, the crack cavalry regiment of the Federal Army. They 
had been on a scout through the "Debatable Land," and had met 
nothing except on their return to camp, when they unexpectedly 
ran in upon our party and bagged two out of the three. 

Where was our proposed foray now — what could two do? 
After considering the matter we decided to raise a squad of home 
guards, or "chinquapin rangers," as the soldiers called those 
skulking, thieving bandits who lived in the bush and prowled 
about, robbing and bushwhacking when they could do so with 
perfect safety. They were cowards, every one of them, though 
we did not know it then. 

A small party of this gentry was soon found and they met at 
Arrington's, all splendidly armed. A garrulous, boasting set, 
the greatest vaunters it had ever been our lot to encounter; 
every man was a hero and had a private graveyard of his own. 



6l4 JOHNNY RKB AND BILIvY YANK 

Such pyrotechnic lying would cause the most ancient Gasconader 
of Lee's army to drop his head in shame. They were, by their 
own account, the most blood-thirsty set ; they killed a dozen or 
so Yankees every month just to keep their hands in. 

"Will you follow us into the enemy's Hnes?" we asked. 

"Yes," they replied, "to Hades and back!" They only wanted 
to get close to the Yankees, that was all. 

The next morning we set oi¥ on foot, and as we approached the 
railroad and the challenge of the Yankee pickets was heard, our 
doughty warriors changed color, and one by one dropped to the 
rear with the declaration that they would soon catch up. Of 
course that was the fest seen of the blatherskites, and so for the 
second time our party was broken up. 

We hated to tramp back bootless; even the "chinquapin ran- 
gers" would laugh at us. There was no telling what two men 
could do if they only tried. Thorne was inclined to run no des- 
perate risks, for he loved his wife and children ; but I persuaded 
him to try it, and so we determined to take a shy at the blue- 
coats. 

A walk of a quarter of an hour brought us close to the rail- 
road, and from a high hill close to the track we looked down. 
Below us was a company of infantry, and all along the railroad 
as far as our eyes could reach were sentinels about forty paces 
apart, who paced their beats regularly. 

Our ardor fell several degrees as we beheld this sight. It 
would be a difficult feat to cross the railroad, heavily guarded as 
it was, and a still more difficult undertaking to get out, more 
especially if burdened with prisoners. We could not get in with- 
out crossing the line, which was the cordon of the camp. 

But we had gone too far to retreat, so we quietly backed out of 
our proximity to the foe and went to the house of a farmer living 
near. To him we confided our intentions and asked his advice. 
He was a cautious old fellow and urged us to abandon our enter- 
prise, saying it was mad and hopeless ; but finding we were bent 
on making the attempt, he gave us full directions and drew a 
rough map of the country. 

Our best policy, he said, was to pass over the railroad some 
eight miles below, where the road was not so heavily guarded, 
and cross Accotink Creek by a bridge made by a fallen tree, and to 
flank the Yankees on the other side when we returned. 

These indefinite instructions were all that Thorne wanted, and 
he expressed his ability to find the place even in the night, 
though he had never been in that particular part of the country. 



ON A HORSE RAID 615 

It was as dark as pitch when we started, and none but a number- 
one scout could have found his way; yet with his marvelous in- 
stinct Thorne pursued the course unerringly through the woods, 
in the inky blackness of the night, and struck the improvised 
bridge. 

It was near midnight and the sullen patter of fugitive raindrops 
at intervals betokened bad weather. The stream was narrow 
and very deep and ran like a mill-race. It was a delicate task 
getting over that tree, but we both succeeded without paying the 
penalty of a diicking. 

Not a hundred yards distant was the railroad, and the sound 
of the sentinel's tread on his rocky beat came faintly to the ear. 
The woods all around had been hewn down by the Yankees to 
prevent Mosby slipping across. The trees were cut so as to fall 
one upon another, thereby furnishing an impediment to cavalry, 
for they never knew at what point that dashing partisan would 
strike. 

As we neared the track we had to move with extraordinary 
care — the snapping of a twig, the breaking of a limb, the rattling 
of our accoutrements would alarm the vigilant guard. Slowly, 
inch by inch, with infinite circumspection we passed on, putting 
each foot gently down, leaning with all our weight upon our 
guns, for at least seventy-five yards. At last we reached the 
railroad, which was on a level with the ground. Lying flat upon 
our faces on the track, we could see the unconscious sentinels' 
figures on the right and the left dimly outlined against the sky. 
We reclined for a few seconds inert, watching them breathlessly. 
They were stationary, and well it was, for had we been discovered 
we would have been obliged to fire, and as we were armed with 
double-barreled guns with twenty-five buckshot in each barrel, 
the issue could not have been doubtful. We were after horses, 
not bent on slaying. We had no deadly animosity to avenge, no 
wrongs to requite, and were most anxious to avoid anything like 
bloodshed — there was always time enough for that. God knows, 
in the constant battles and skirmishes, when it was our duty to do 
all the harm we could. One of the videttes was sitting on the 
rail smoking, the other leaning upon his gun, little recking of the 
proximity of their foemen. Once the guard on Thome's side 
rose from his recumbent attitude and stood up; had he advanced 
one step it would have been his last, for Thorne covered him. 
The step was not taken; he filled his pipe and Hghted it, and as 
the momentary flame cast a little halo of light around his head 



'6l6 JOHNNY REB AND BIIyl^Y YANK 

we could see every feature, and in that brief second tell the color 
of his eyes. He was fair-haired, with beardless face, and evidently 
a fresh recruit; his equipment showed that he was an infantry- 
man. . 

With nerves strung like steel we glided noiselessly across and 
crawled for some distance, then resuming our natural attitude, 
we walked quietly and easily away. 

Reaching a dense pine thicket we spread our oilcloth upon the 
ground, for we had no blankets, and lying close together, ig- 
noring the rain, which had now commenced in earnest, slept as 
soundly as if we were in a soft bed of feathers, and covered with 
eiderdown, with an embroidered counterpane on top. A scout 
can sleep anywhere, even as Bolivar Ward used to say, he could 
slumber in the bed of a stream, enwrapped in a sheet of water. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

ON the: watch. 

The beating of the drums aroused us from our dreams and 
showed that we were in the very midst of the Yankee camp. Our 
position was between Burke's and Springfield Stations, not over 
seven miles from Alexandria. 

Opening our haversacks we ate our simple breakfast of bread 
and meat, and found that in our hurry we had not laid in a full 
supply and that our rations would not last over a day. This dis- 
covery alarmed us terribly. We reproached ourselves bitterly 
for such carelessness, but it was a stubborn fact that in another 
day we would be without food, and it was risking much to apply 
to the people in the neighborhood, who had been in the enemy's 
lines ever since the war commenced, and many of whom were 
Northern settlers who hated a Rebel scout as the watch-dog does 
the prowling fox; but w^hen one is in a dilemma something must 
be done to get out, so we resolved to try the first house we came 
to and abide the consequences. 

Skulking along the outskirts of the woods we reached a small 
cabin surrounded by the remains of a poor, sickly little corn 
patch, the bare stalks standing like naked soldiers in rows waiting 
for roll call. Going up, Thorne knocked at the door. A voice 
bade us come in. 

Pulling the latch-string, the door opened and we entered. The 
only occupant was an ancient dame of about three-quarters of a 
century. On her head, covering her grizzled hair, was an an- 
tique mob cap, such as our great-grandmothers used to wear. 
A pair of immense silver-rimmed spectacles rested on her nose 
and she was in appearance for all the world like the old lady of 
Berkeley who had prayers said three nights over her. A coffee 
pot sat upon the hearth, the odorous steam pufifing from the 
spout ; a spoon was in the dame's hand, with which she had just 
been stirring the boiling fluid. She turned carelessly to look, 
evidently supposing we were Yankee soldiers, but she stopped 
and gave one brief, startled glance at our gray uniforms, and if old 
Satan had entered the door, his wife hanging on his arm, she 
would not have been more terrified. The spoon dropped from 
her nerveless hand, the silver spectacles followed and fell to the 



6l8 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

floor unnoticed. She screamed and covered her face with her 
apron. 

This reception certainly puzzled us. 

"Madam," said Thorne, "we mean no harm, we are merely 
soldiers asking the way." 

"For the love of God!" she cried "ain't you Southern soldiers?" 

"Yes, madam, we are." 

"O Lord! O Lord! you will be killed! You will be mur- 
dered!" she cried, sitting down in a chair and rocking to and 
fro, while the tears ran down her withered cheeks. 

We comforted the poor creature and told her there was no 
immediate danger ; that we were perfectly capable of taking care 
of ourselves, and by degrees she grew composed and entered 
into conversation with us. She said she had not seen a Confed- 
erate soldier for three years, that her only son was a captain in 
our army, and that our uniforms, which she loved so much, star- 
tled her and almost made her faint. Then she moved with alac- 
rity to get a hot breakfast for us. She also filled our haversacks 
with food, and gave us most important information. 

She told us that the bivouacs in the vicinity were all infantry, 
the cavalry being encamped upon the turnpike about two miles 
higher up, and that the whole country was alive with soldiers vis- 
iting the farm-houses, and we had better be careful and keep in 
the woods. 

We bade the old lady good-by and left a two-dollar greenback 
in her hand, which she did not want to take, but we insisted. 
She gave us a sweet, old-fashioned blessing, resting her shriveled 
hand upon our heads. 

We concluded to strike at once for the cavalry camps. For- 
tunately for us there was a fine, drizzling rain and the whole coun- 
try was wrapped in heavy fog, which made objects indistinct. 

Under cover of this friendly mist we reached the road and 
took position in the thicket which bordered the branch only a 
few paces distant, then carefully keeping our weapons dry under 
our oilcloths, we stood like Claude Duval and Sixteen Strong 
Jack, ready to challenge and cry, "Stand and deliver !" to any man 
on the King's highway. Had either Thorne or myself been in the 
"profession" we could have sung the solo of Captain Macheath 
with fine effect, and certainly much feeling: 



ON THE WATCH 619 

"Let us take to the wood, 
Hark I hear the sound of coaches, 
The hour of attack approaches. 
To your arms, brave boys, and load ; 
See the ball I hold. 
Let the chemists toil like asses, 
Our fire their fire surpasses 
And turns our lead to gold." 

There was no moral difference, in truth, between these noted 
footpads and ourselves, for both were after plunder, both hid in 
a covert ready to spring out upon the unwary passer-by; but 
war makes everything right and it was our duty to plunder society 
in the shape of anything that wore a blue coat. If Claude were 
caught it was but a step to Tyburn Gallows ; should we be captured 
it only meant imprisonment. 

The first wayfarer was an old countryman, jogging along to 
market with his produce ; his ancient steed was a condemned 
army horse. The elderly tiller of the soil was buried in profound 
meditation, evidently working out perplexing financial problems 
connected with the sale of garden truck. He neither stirred nor 
spoke, and soon disappeared over the brow of the hill. 

But hush ! There comes the sound of a horse's tread. We 
made ready, but smiled in spite of ourselves, at the cause : a little 
darky as black as midnight came riding by on a mule; he too 
quickly disappeared. 

A long interval followed ; the fine, mist-like rain made our 
faces and hands cold and blue, but by cowering closely to the 
ground and shrouding ourselves in the oilcloths, we managed to 
keep dry. 

There we were on the qui vive in a second, as a rumbling sound 
broke upon our ears ; we hoped it was a sutler, but it proved to 
be a long wagon-train heavily guarded by a strong detachment 
of cavalry. 

It gave us a curious sensation to see those blue-coats pursuing 
their course within a few paces of us, and yet feel free. The train 
was fully a quarter of an hour in passing. Of course an attack 
was out of the question, and it made our hearts sink to see the 
great number of troopers acting as escort. Our sole reason for 
coming right into their camp — into the lion's mouth, as it were — 
was that in their perfect security they would make no attempt to 
guard their convoys and it would be an easy matter to capture 
a couple of horses, and being well mounted, show a clean pair 
of heels and trust to luck to reach the open. But it seemed as 



620 JOHNNY REB AND BILI.Y YANK 

if, in superabundant caution, the Yankees would send a whole 
cavalry company to guard an army mule which belonged to the 
regimental cook. 

Our plan was to capture a small squad of cavalry, then mount 
and away before pursuit could begin. If we could not get 
cavalry, then a wagon was to be stopped and horses unhitched, 
and v^ithout saddles, we would make the essay; we would take 
anything but mules — we would rather have a running fight and 
certain capture than to ride a bare-backed mule in a scrub race, 
such as we were sure to have should we succeed in bagging 
anything. 

Soon there came a solitary figure, dressed in citizen's clothes, 
on horseback. Either he was a sutler or a citizen visiting friends 
in the camps. If he were the former with a big wallet, on his 
way to the city to deposit his money in bank, we would take him 
anyway; if he was not, there would be but one horse, and the whole 
country notified of his absence, that the Rebel scouts were about, 
and the cavalry would be on the keen lookout for us everywhere, 
so, much against our wills, we kept quiet and let Mr. Citizen pass. 

An hour slipped by, nothing was heard or seen. The bare 
branches of the trees gathering the moisture in great globules, 
dropped them with mathematical regularity upon our oilcloths. 
It was long after noon, so we crouched down and ate our dinner, 
blessing that kind old lady between every mouthful for her good- 
ness. Then we lighted our pipes and watched ; still no sign. 
We got up and stretched, and stepping boldly into the road 
walked up and down the highway. As far as the eye could reach 
it was utterly deserted. The dull air became heavier, the mist 
more dense, and the gleam of fires in camp could hardly be seen. 
It was a gloomy, dispiriting, lowering evening; just the kind to 
make the blazing fire a great attraction. With us, everything 
was damp, the leaves were wet, the trees exuded moisture, the 
fine rain found its way through holes and crevices and chilled the 
body by its touch. So the afternoon wore away and the gath- 
ering gloom warned us that night was fast approaching, and as 
far as this day was concerned, we had failed lamentably. 

Wandering back, looking for some place to sleep, we ran 
across a hay stack standing in a field. Burrowing a hole clear 
to the center and creeping in, we were more than satisfied, for it 
was warm and dry. We wasted no time in preliminaries, but went 
to sleep at once ; and so ended the twenty-four hours we had built 
such high hopes upon. 



ON THE WATCH 02 1 

The next morning on poking our heads out of the hole we did 
not find the view inviting; it was raining hard and the vapor 
arose from the ground in streams. Our lair seemed so comfort- 
able by contrast that after a discussion we agreed that nothing 
could be done on such a day, so we crept back and slept until 
dark ; then being at a loss as to how to kill time, we resolved to 
pay our old dame another visit, for we longed for a good cup of 
hot coffee. 

She was glad to see us, but her terror was pitiable lest some 
wandering squad of Yankees should drop in and see a couple of 
gray-jackets sitting by her fireside ; her fears were more on our 
account than her own, however. 

We again asked the old lady for advice, which she gave freely 
and sensibly. Our best chance, she said, was to go about six 
miles farther up and take a stand on the turnpike leading from 
Falls Church to Fairfax Court House. Both of these points 
were heavily garrisoned by cavalry troops in quarters, and they 
were continually passing from one point to another, for she had 
seen small squads. 

Thanking her for the information we bade her a final farewell 
and plunged into the darkness. 

It was raining a steady downpour, which seemed to soak every- 
thing, and was so dark that I could not imagine for a moment 
that Thorne could find his way to the haystack; but find it he 
did, making a bee-line for it, I holding close to his oilcloth. 

Notwithstanding we had slept all day, we repeated the perform- 
ance and only awoke late in the morning; we found the pitiless 
rain as lively and abundant as ever. With cramped limbs and feel- 
ing as blue as indigo, we pursued our way. 

Keeping a sharp lookout and making many detours to avoid 
the camps which lay thickly strewn about, we struck the turn- 
pike and chose a spot that had the double advantage of conceal- 
ment and a good post of observation, for we could see from the 
hilltop, a mile or so down the road. About six hundred yards be- 
low us, on the side of the turnpike, which was as straight as an 
arrow at this point, was a cavalry brigade in quarters, and our 
spirits rose as we looked, for among so many it seemed likely 
that small detached parties must be traveling up and down the 
road. From our position we could watch them easily and hear 
the bugle sounding the different calls. 

We lay there conversing in subdued tones, trying to predict 
the upshot of this affair. Thorne declared that if captured our 



622 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

bodies would be swinging from some tree ten minutes after. But | 
of course he exaggerated the danger, for we were in full uniform; 
there was nothing of the spy about us, but it was safer not to try 
the experiment, and we resolved not to be taken so long as we 
had a bullet left, and not to yield until every chance was gone. 

Several times different parties of dismounted cavalrymen 
passed within five feet of us, for we were lying in a thick bunch 
of tangled briers, directly on the side of the road, and no old 
hare ever hugged his bed closer when the hounds were drawing 
covert than did we. So near indeed did one fellow come to us 
that we hardly dared breathe. He sat down upon a stone within 
reach of our hands and took a pebble from his boot; his back 
was turned toward us, yet where was his sixth sense that it did 
not warn him? With many a curse he found the little piece of 
flint, threw it viciously away, then rising kept on his way. 

For hours we stayed there ; our feet were soaked ; and still 
no mounted men except in large bodies passed us ; so we could 
do nothing but shiver, and a feeling of utter desolation and hope- 
lessness came over us. We could hardly hope to escape without 
a fight on foot; but when we thought of our determination to 
succeed — had come all this distance — dared all — to get horses, 
and yet the chance seemed almost impossible, it incensed us and 
we swore to ourselves that we would make a trial even though 
we had to steal into the camp in the night. 

The rain seemed determined to drive us out. The place where 
we stood had become a puddle, so we placed one oilcloth on the 
ground and crouched together under the other. How terribly 
tantalizing it was to see hundreds of horses so near and yet as 
unattainable as if separated from us by an impassable gulf. 

Another leaden-heeled hour limped by. It was about three 
o'clock ; we were getting consolation out of our pipes, those old 
friends that never failed us, when suddenly Thorne uttered an ex- 
clamation : 

"Lord! here they come at last!" 

Down the road, about a hundred yards distant, was a light wagon 
escorted by two cavalrymen ; it was leisurely advancing toward 
us. In a second our pipes were out of our mouths and in our 
pockets. With hasty motions we put fresh caps on the nipples 
of our double barrels, drew our pistols out of the holsters and 
were ready, 

"I'll take the driver," said Thorne in a hoarse whisper. "You 
attend to the cavalrymen. Don't fire unless they show fight, but 



ON THJ5 WATCH 623 

mount as ioon as you can. I will lead, you follow me. Take the 
prisoners along with us if they don't resist, so they can't give the 
alarm." 

"What if they make fight, though?" 

"Kill them and run for it." 

The wagon, drawn by a pair of sleek mules, was within a few 
yards of us, and the driver, a cavalryman, was whistling for want 
of thought. Great Scott! how he would have whipped up those 
mules had he only known that two Rebs were in that thicket. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

A DASHING RIDE. 

We both sprang out, each to his post, and with cocked guns 
and fingers upon the triggers, called out in tones not to be mis- 
taken: "Surrender! Drop your arms!" 

Language cannot convey the stupefaction of those men. They 
seemed petrified with astonishment — dumb with wonder, and to 
have lost all control of their limbs. They simply gazed down the 
barrels of the guns inert and speechless. But the final command 
to surrender or die brought them to their senses. One of the 
men dropped his hand to his holster as if to draw his pistol, and 
his action nearly cost him his life, for the cruel bore of my 
weapon was turned toward his forehead ; one more movement 
and he would have been headless. He saw it and in the nick of 
time threw his hand up and yielded as his companions had done. 
He hated to surrender in full view of his camp, but a double- 
barreled shot gun, a firm hand on the trigger and the muzzle 
sighted prone at one's head is a great persuader. 

It is said that Spain is the most charitable country on the globe; 
the rich never refuse to give alms to the poor, for frequently 
when on a journey, in passing through some dark defile, they 
hear a noise, and there are some half-score bell-mouth blunder- 
busses bearing full upon them while voices are heard crying in 
supplicating tones : "Alms, gentle stranger ! for the love of God, 
alms." 

Our process of reasoning succeeded as well as the Spanish 
brigands'. The driver after pulling himself together proved a real 
philosopher, who took things quite coolly; he unhooked his pis- 
tol-belt and handed it over with the politest bow imaginable. 
Each man's belt contained two revolvers and a sabre: the latter 
we threw away, and then we buckled the revolvers around our 
waists. So far everything was lovely and the attack had suc- 
ceeded charmingly, but danger was near. A large party of cav- 
alrymen were seen coming up the pike toward us, not half a 
mile away. Time was precious and we made the most of it. Or- 
dering the three troopers to unhitch the mules, and threatening 
them with instant death if they hesitated or tried to delay us. they 
set to work with a vim, while we mounted the cavalry horses. 



• A DASHING RIDE) 625 

In an incredibly short time they had the mules free. Judging 
from the frenzied earnestness and wonderful celerity with which 
they accomplished the task, they seemed to be the anxious ones. 
Bidding the prisoners each to mount a mule, and choosing the 
youngest, a mere boy, slight and delicate looking, for my com- 
panion, I swung into the saddle and ordered him to scramble up 
behind me. 

"See here, Billy Yank," I said in a warning tone, "put your 
arms around me on the outside of my waterproof, mind, and hold 
on tight ; if I feel your arms loosen for a minute, I will fire." 

"All right, sir," he answered; "I'll hold on and not let go until 
you tell me to." 

"And you men," I shouted, "stick to your mules. It's death if 
you don't ; lead on, Thorne !" 

Then we plunged into the woods ; and not a moment too soon, 
for the head of the column of the detachment was not two hun- 
dred yards away. In an instant we were tearing through the 
pines like mad. 

Thorne, mounted on the finest cavalry horse, led the way. 
Behind, in single file, bestriding the mules, barebacked, were the 
two cavalrymen, while the third, as I said, was behind me. 
Thorne rode straight on, looking neither to the right nor left. 
His task was to get out of those surroundings as soon as pos- 
sible, and to strike for cover where we could rest secure. My 
duty was to keep the prisoners safe and close behind him. as well 
as to watch for the pursuing force. 

The run was commenced right through a swamp, where the 
tangled vines crossed each other from limb to limb, forming an 
almost impenetrable barrier. Thorne, with bent head, went 
straight at it. There was a ripping sound, and through the ob- 
struction he tore with the two mules and cavalry horse close at 
his heels; into the meadows and across, with the horses sinking 
over their fetlocks in the spongy ground. 

But listen ! From the rear came the faint halloa, the hurrah 
which is unmistakable. The Yankees were hard upon our track 
and running us down — the abandoned wagon, the discarded 
sabres and the trampled ground having told the story as plainly 
as tongue or pencil. 

On, on we spurred; Thorne in the advance riding as straight as 

an arrow, save when he saw a little stretch of woods, a ravine or 

hollow which favored concealment, then he would deflect and 

rein up to give the horses a little breathing spell; now that he 

40 



626 JOHNNY REB AND BII.LY YANK 

knew the enemy was near, he saved the horses for the last heat, 
which he felt certain must come. On the level and where the 
earth was hard we pushed to the very utmost, but in muddy 
ground we pulled up. 

We were hurrying along through belts of wood, which show- 
ered rain-drops in a stream upon us; over fields, dashing across 
in a wild gallop, scrambling over ditches we could not jump, 
forcing our way through jungles with the tenacious briers tearing 
our clothes and scratching our flesh until the blood began to 
trickle; plunging headlong into brooks and throwing up the spray, 
which soaked us through, but none minded it now. The Yankees 
were gaining upon us. The deep mud retained the imprint of our 
hoof-marks in plain relief, signs which they could follow at a 
gallop, only here and there striking a piece of flinty ground which 
for a moment baffled them and threw them into a little confusion. 
It was now that Thorne brought into play all his magnificent 
woodcraft, and his keen eye> searched out every spot of hard 
earth which would retain no impression. 

The cries of the pursuers waxed louder and stronger, for they 
were following hard behind us. 

Spur onward ! Captivity and imprisonment behind, glorious 
life and liberty in front ! 

Over a wide field we coursed. A frightened hare started out 
of his bed and scudded away. The rapid beating of the horses' 
feet, the hurried, labored breathing of the animals when stretched 
out in their speed, the cry of the enemy floating onward, were 
the only sounds we heard. Up a hill, where we paused to get 
breath, then down, in our mad progress. A fence barred the way ; 
Thorne threw his horse bodily against it and the rails were scat- 
tered. Through this gap we rushed, and kept on into a dark belt 
of woods, then into a wide pasture, which rose gradually until it 
formed a lofty hill. Up the ridge we cantered, then, when the 
top was reached, looked back ; there a sight met our gaze which 
caused our bridle-reins to shake and the spurs to be driven home. 

About three-quarters of a mile distant was a detachment of 
blue-coats trailing us, while they raised exultant shouts, showing 
that they felt certain of our capture. 

Turning sharply to the right, Thorne struck for a fringe of pine 
not far distant. Gallantly the horses skimmed along, with ears 
laid back and nostrils distended. The mules, goaded to their ut- 
most speed, bounded in quick, hurried springs, which kept them 
well up to their places. We reached the wood and ran along its 



A DASHING RIDE 627 

edge, next across a brown heather, thence over a corn-field with 
the tall, brown stalks breast high. Another hill and we flanked 
it. then in a line for a mile or more, when suddenly Thorne 
wheeled and headed for a farm-house lying upon the left and far 
away in the distance. 

It was about four o'clock or a little after, and darkness, thank 
Heaven, was not far off. It we could hold out for another hour 
we would be safe ; but could we do it and keep up these tremen- 
dous bursts of speed that made the horses' flanks like a mighty 
bellows at full blast? 

The mules seemed to stand it better and did not show their 
distress so obviously. 

Off again after stopping half a minute to let the horses drink 
at a branch. In this short interval Thorne turned and asked a 
prisoner, "Well, Billy Yank, how do you like it?" 

"Damn bad ; I never expected to take such a ride as this." 

"To what regiment do you boys belong?" 

"Eighth Illinois; what's yourn?" 

"Black Horse Cavalry." 

"Is that so! O, I say, Mister, how much further have we got 
to go?" 

"Why, are you sore?" 

"No, not yet, but I'm getting so." 

We held the horses in a little, as we made our way across the 
open. Our ruse of turning to the right and left and riding through 
the pines, where the horses' tracks were very faint, had thrown 
the pursuing party into confusion and enabled us to gain a mile 
or so on them. 

It is a great mistake to pity the fox when the hounds are 
trailing him close. Reynard is happier and enjoying himself 
more than they can understand, for the stakes are everything to 
him and comparatively nothing to the dogs, besides he has full 
confidence and perfect faith in his own sagacity, resources, fleet- 
ness, and a corresponding contempt for his foes. There may 
be a savage pleasure in running breast-high to the scent he 
leaves behind, but the keen delight, the vivid pleasure, the esctasy 
of hope and fear by turns predominating, are all his. 

The house for which we were aiming was fully two miles dis- 
tant and over a rocky and uneven country. Turning neither to 
the right nor left, it was in truth rough riding. 

Up one hill and down another at moderate speed, dragging our 
horses through miry lowlands, urging them by voice and spur 



628 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

up steep declivities, rushing forward in a swinging gait on the 
level, we at last reached the house. 

The farm-house nestled in a cosy little hollow at the foot of a 
hill; we drew up at the door and shouted for the owner. After 
some delay an old man with staring eyes and white face appeared. 
Either he wouldn't or couldn't answer Thome's interrogations 
about the route and bearings of the country; so that irate scout 
pressed the cold muzzle of his revolver against the gray head 
and reiterated his questions. He found his voice at once, for a 
magical w^and is a cocked weapon, which may go off, like Sir 
Lucius O'Trigger's pistol, of its own accord. He gave Thorne 
a clear description of where we were, the roads and the points 
of the compass. 

"1 am all right now, I know where I am ; come along,'' said 
Thorne. 

Our steeds answered the spur by a bound, and turning left 
oblique, Thorne headed his course through the yard. Over 
garden and field at a slapping pace, then down a branch to find an 
easy crossing, and still at full speed passed through a narrow 
fringe of trees, then up a steep hill to the main road ; a fence 
hemmed us in and we drew up and looked around. 

The whole road was filled with Yankees. A large wagon-train 
was toiling its slow way along the muddy turnpike, and on each 
side of the wagons rode the cavalry escort. 

"By God !" said Thorne between his teeth, "they've got us 
sure." 

It seemed so indeed. The fence that divided us was not di- 
rectly upon the road which the Yankees were traveling; it had 
been originally, but the ancient road was so full of holes that a 
new one was marked by the wagons, which spread out in a side 
compass to avoid the bottomless holes and mire of the old route. 
As it was, the long line was not over fifty yards away. 

By a happy chance we had our oilcloths over our shoulders, 
effectually concealing our gray jackets, and the gloom of ap- 
proaching night as well as the rain made objects indistinct, and 
the soldiers, thinking of course that we were their own men, took 
no notice of us. 

I cocked my double barrel and declared to the prisoners that I 
would kill the first one who moved or spoke. 

We stood irresolute. Could we have traded our prisoners and 
mules for safety we would gladly have made the bargain then 
and there, but we were all in the same boat and must sink or 
swim together. 



A DASHING RIDD 629 

Thorne also, in a low tone, warned the captives that he would 
kill them if they betrayed us, if he had to die the next minute 
for it. They were deathly pale, had lost their presence of mind 
and seemed utterly speechless, and only stared hopelessly at us, 
for they knew a revolver was pointed at them, concealed by an 
oilcloth. 

We were all side by side and not three feet apart. It was one 
of the moments that try men's calibre and test their daring. Had 
either of those men been of iron nerve and determination, he 
would have made the attempt and stood the risk and might prob- 
ably have had us killed ; but fortunately they were not of that 
cool and desperate stamp. They were all young, the eldest not 
being over twenty-three or twenty-four years, and this their 
first emergency and moment of peril found them all unnerved and 
panic-stricken. 

For nearly half a minute we were en tableaux and at a loss 
what to do ; then suddenly Thorne made a sign that was well 
understood by me, and wlieeled his horse around as quick as 
lightning. The mules from force of habit whirled about, facing 
their file leader, and the whole party shot like an arrow down the 
slope. We had nearly reached the bottom before the Yankees 
recovered from their astonishment, then we heard them cry : 

"They are Rebels ! They are Johnnies ! Catch them!" 

But that was easier said than done. They poured down be- 
hind us in a tumultuous stream, shouting and yelling like mad. 
Not two hundred yards away an answering cheer met and mingled 
with theirs, and there were two parties in hot pursuit instead of one. 

Strike out, good steeds, on your heels our safety liesl Now is 
the hour of sorest need ; one grand burst and all will be well. 

Fearful was the tax on their speed, but gallantly indeed the 
cattle answered it. Down the hill into a farmyard, with a clatter 
and rush, through gardens, smashing hotbeds and coal pits in 
our onset. Close behind like a tempest came the pursuers, their 
exultant yells and frenzied whoops sounding above the din of 
the charge and the jingling of their accoutrements. 

If either of us ever breathed a prayer it would have been like 
the cavalryman in the "Bucktown Races," when Stuart led the 
run. A score of blue-coats chased one poor Reb, and kept up a 
rattling fire upon him; the pistols cracked at every jump but he 
got away at last. The next day he narrated his experience and 
declared at the most dangerous moment he commenced to pray, 
but he was so scared he could think of but one line of the annex 



630 JOHNNY RUB AND BILLY YANK 

to the Lord's Prayer, and repeated that line all the time, "Now I 
lay me down to sleep." 

We flew like the wind. The trees plunged by in a kind of 
drunken reel ; at every leap we drove our cruel spurs, already 
bloody, into the heaving sides of our horses and kept them up 
to the work; up another hill without drawing rein, then in a 
breakneck speed down again ; a false step, a stumble would have 
been fatal, but none was made. As the bottom was reached we 
saw opening before us a large field spreading far to the right 
and left. The situation was desperate ; before we could cross the 
Yankees would be upon us ; they were already within a hundred 
and fifty yards ; the game seemed up, the dance almost finished ; 
the huntsman might have sounded the view halloo in his horn, 
for the quarry was earthed at last. The gray lost, the blue won. 

But did the blue win? 

Going at a pace that almost equalled "Tam O'Shanter's," we 
passed into the field. In the center stood a little thicket of hazel 
bushes, vines and creepers, a narrow covert which jutted out 
into the meadow; it looked dark within. With a sudden inspir- 
ation Thorne whirled his horse into the copse, and in a second we 
were dismounted, the prisoners made to lie flat on their faces, 
with a double barrel at their motionless forms. They had their 
instructions not to move a finger nor wink an eyelid. Hardly 
were we in position when the tramping of horses, the cries of 
foes, showed us the decisive moment had come. 

Closer, and still closer, until we distinguished the shouting 
crowd in a dark mass, bearing directly upon us. We instinctively 
cowered and closed our eyes, for it looked as though they would 
charge over us bodily. 

They reached the head of the ravine, then separated and rode 
at full speed on each side of us ; the current of air made by their 
rapid passage could be felt on our hot cheeks. They kept on with- 
out drawing bridle-rein, and the sound of their hoof strokes grew 
fainter and fainter until they died away in the distance. 

We drew a long breath. 

"A damn close shave!" said Thorne, uncocking his gun. 

"A sharp trick, I swear," remarked one of the prisoners as he 
arose from his recumbent posture. "If I hadn't felt certain of 
being released I would have tried to get away, you bet." 

"Why didn't you try it when we ran into them on the road?" 

"Why I calculated our boys would be bound to capture you, 
that's why." 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

AN ALL-NIGHT JOURNEY. 

In a short time we ventured to get up and stretch ourselves, 
It was twihght and we had no fear of further pursuit. Thorne, 
leaving me in charge of the prisoners and horses, went on foot to 
a farm-house whose light we could see in the distance, to get his 
bearings. 

He soon returned ; we then mounted, rode through the field 
and entered the gloomy woods. We rode close to the prisoners, 
our cocked revolvers in our hands and with every sense alert, 
prepared to shoot on the slightest movement they made to 
escape. That they did not attempt a dash for liberty surprised 
us. A man with nerve would certainly have gotten off, for the 
gloom was almost opaque and it would have been chance shoot- 
ing had any taken French leave. 

A ride of a mile or so brought us to a house where, on making 
our wishes known, a huge fire was built, a plentiful supper speed- 
ily prepared, and Reb and Yank tried to see which could eat the 
most. It was nip and tuck. The two girls of the house refused 
payment, saying the sight of three prisoners squared the bill. 

Once more on the road, we put our cattle in a dog trot and 
rode miles and miles in the darkness, each one absorbed in his 
own thoughts. Once in a while the barking of a cur came 
through the distance. A fitful gleam from each pipe showed that 
all were seeking comfort from their brier-roots, so on we went, 
and made our way without drawing rein until the northern light 
had climbed to its zenith and pointed still to the polar star. 

Through stretches of woods where carpets of pine needles 
deadened the sound of footsteps, through wide ranges of field 
which loomed vast and obscure all around, by houses whose out- 
lines cut the sky, up hills, into valleys, until the horses, with bowed 
heads and weary limbs, dragged into a walk and had to be 
spurred to increase their slow gait. Through the long hours of 
travel and the many confusing cross-roads Thorne did not hesitate 
once, but sped along with the instinct of a Bedouin of the 
trackless desert. The figures of the prisoners swayed on their 
animals as their senses were dulled by sleep, and a sharp order 
now and then was necessary to bring them back to consciousness. 



6^2 JOHNNY R^B AND BILIvY YANK 

Still onward the darkness increased, till Venus blazed resplend- 
ent on the earth. 

Just as the day broke we reined up at Mr, Marshall's door — 
that sterling old patriot whose house was every soldier's home. 
Now we knew that we were safe among true friends and could 
afford to take that rest which we were so much in need of. 

Giving the over-burdened, over-ridden horses a generous feed, 
both prisoners and guards threw themselves on hastily constructed 
pallets in the parlor and were soon in deep sleep. 

The two daughters of our host took our pistols and kept 
guard over the three cavalrymen. Poor fellows! It was a use- 
less precaution, for they were too utterly broken down to need 
watching. 

Four or five hours' rest, a drink of pure peach brandy, a hearty 
breakfast, and we remounted, and by keeping half way around 
the arc of a circle we reached Thome's house after traveling all 
day, and his anxious wife met him, rejoiced to see him safe and 
well. She had heard the report that we had been captured and 
shot. There were tears and warm kisses too, for in those stormy 
times, "in Mosby's Confederacy," wives seemed to love their 
husbands better than in the piping times of peace ; their hearts 
were in their mouths, so to speak, for when they bade their liege 
lords farewell it was even chances that it would be final. 

A night's sleep made the whole party hale and hearty again ; 
only the prisoners still felt sore from riding bare-back, which they 
showed by many facial contortions when they chanced to move. 
It was such practice as they had never dreamed of when they left 
home, and would be a fruitful theme in times yet to come. 

Thorne and I now made a division of the loot. We each took 
one horse and a mule and the arms and equipments in equal pro- 
portions ; we then separated, he going to Fredericksburg, sev- 
enteen miles distant, with two prisoners to deliver to the pro- 
vost guard there, while I, wishing to visit Orange Court House, 
determined to take the remaining prisoner along with me and 
place him in the care of the provost marshal. So shaking hands 
all around, we parted company, and each went his own way. 

I found my companion a sensible fellow of some twenty-three 
years, and while not a man of education or refinement, he had a 
good share of shrewdness and common sense, and had knocked 
about the world a good deal in his time. He had learned by ex- 
perience that wise lesson which surpasseth the lore of books, 
"philosophy," without which life is not worth living to the 



AN ALIv-NIGHT JOURNEY 633 

average man. He took existence as he found it, and did not seem 
to cry over his mishap. He was a private in Company L, Eighth 
Illinois Cavalry, and was from Cleveland, Ohio, and his name 
was McCaughery. 

We jogged along cosily together, he telling me of his many 
adventures both by sea and land, and he was either of a won- 
derfully roving temperament or else he was an accomplished 
liar. Either way, he was entertaining, and could sing a good 
song, so nobody under the circumstances would be disposed 
to be critical ; I certainly was not, and the twenty miles was soon 
gotten over. Just as the sun took a farewell peep over the crags 
of the lofty Blue Ridge we came to a halt at the house of Mr. 
John Minor Botts. 

Now I was rather uncertain, whether with all of his hospitality 
the great Virginia Unionist would take in a Rebel with a Yankee 
prisoner, even though the former was a kinsman. The old gentle- 
man had a violent temper and I must confess I quavered a little as 
I heard his heavy tread advancing. 

''How are you, my boy?" he said in his hearty, off-hand way. 

"O, I am as the old darky said, 'poorly, thank God.' " 

"Get off your horses and come in. Here, Bob," addressing a 
servant near, "come and get the gentlemen's horses. Come in, but 
first introduce your comrade to me. 

"He's a prisoner, sir," I meekly said. 

"A what?" he thundered. 

"A prisoner, sir. I captured him near Falls Church." 

"Why. damn my soul !" he yelled, his face growing crimson, 
"do you think I keep a prison pen?" 

"No, sir; but I thought you entertained both sides." 

"I do, but my house is not a resort for bushwhackers ; a hell of 
a fix you would get me into." 

"Well, Mr. Botts, what must I do — ride on to Culpeper?" 

"No, my house is open to you. Why don't you discharge your 
prisoner and come in? One man would not make or break your 
infernal Confederacy anyway." 

"No. I cannot do that, but I will parole him and he can get a 
place in the overseer's cottage." 

"You don't suppose he will be fool enough to keep it?" asked 
the great Virginian, as he looked askance at the Illinois soldier, 
who sat unconcernedly on his mule. 

"Of course he will, for if he should try to make his way across 
the open country some of our scouts would capture him, and 



634 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

thinking him a spy, kill him off-hand." The cavalryman pricked 
up his ears at this. 

"I guess I'll stay," he said. "I'm safe now, and I don't want to 
run any risk, and my pay is going on all the time." 

"Just as yon damn please." said Mr. Botts. "There is the over- 
seer's house across there. Tell him to make you comfortable." 

"Good-by, Billy, until morning," I said. "For your own good, 
I hope you won't try to get away. You don't know the country, 
and ten chances to one some citizen, rendered savage by ill treat- 
ment, will bushwhack you, that's all." 

"I tell you again, I ain't going to run no risk, and you'll find 
me at the house early to-morrow." So saying he dismounted, and 
limped in the direction of the overseer's house not a hundred 
yards away. 

I cautioned my host to look well to the safety of his stables 
or he might find one of his thoroughbreds missing in the morn- 
ing. He caught the hint and gave orders accordingly. I took 
my horse and mule to a secluded spot in a thicket near the house 
and fed them with my own hands. 

Mr. Botts came out, and linking his arm sociably within mine, 
led me toward the open door. 

"I have," said he, "already two guests." 

"Who are they?" 

"One is a Federal surgeon, captured by Mosby. He was carried 
to Culpeper and released unconditionally. The other is a lieuten- 
ant of Mosby's who was detached to pilot him to the Federal 
lines. Both are very bright, sociable fellows and I anticipate a 
pleasant evening. But walk in, here we are." 

A step carried us from the chilly air into a warm, cosy, cheer- 
ful room ; a hickory fire roared up the chimney, for there was a 
touch of frost in the air, and sparkled and gleamed on the cut 
.Silass and burnished silver which decked the sideboard. 

Walk up, gentlemen, and help yourselves," said Mr. Botts. 
"You will find a good choice there ; if there is anything I pride 
myself on, it is my taste for good whiskey. I honestly believe I 
imbibed it with my mother's milk. Here," he continued with a 
comprehensive wave of his hand, "is a bottle of old rye left, sent 
me last fall by General Meade. There is some Cognac which ran 
the blockade from Washington, and here is old peach brandy, 
which, according to my thinking, is the best liquor ever brewed 
by the hand of man." 

The North chose the rye, but the South stood by the peach, 



& 



AN AI,I,-NIGHT JOURNEY 635 

and tipping glasses, the healths were drunk and the glasses 
drained. 

A bountiful supper followed, and then when cigars were lighted 
the whole party made themselves comfortable in Mr. Botts's li- 
brary, and under the benign influence of that "great tranquilizer" 
tobacco, the conversation grew friendly and unrestrained. What 
was said will prove good reading in another chapter, for though 
but a straw, it shows and reflects the feelings of the opposite side 
in the last year of the war and was taken down in my note-book 
almost verbatim. 

Mr. Botts proved himself a better prophet in National politics 
than he ever did when betting on a horse-race in the good old 
times when Eclipse and Flying Childers were kings of the turf, 
for he invariably lost, and always had a good reason why, so good 
indeed, to his own satisfaction, that he would scrape together 
another pile and bet and lose it on the same horse with the same 
serene belief that only accident had destroyed his astute cal- 
culations. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THE PEACE CONEERENCE. 

A good deal of desultory conversation followed. The war was 
fought over again, and the rival merits of the opposing generals 
discussed with the utmost good feeling. The Federal surgeon 
was attached to a New York regiment, in fact he was from the 
Empire City, a graduate of Yale, and had toured Europe. His 
mind was as cultured as his sympathies were broad, and his con- 
versation bespoke thought and not an echo of others' opinions. 
The Rebel lieutenant was a young man, formerly of the Regular 
Cavalry, but losing his arm he had been allowed to transfer to 
Mosby's battalion, which command the daring and reckless most 
favored. He was educated at the University of Virginia and un- 
derstood the state of affairs, as well as the causes which brought 
them about, thoroughly. 

''Gentlemen," remarked our host after a long pause, during which 
each dreamily puffed his cigar, watching the rings drift upward, 
lost in his own visions, "I have a proposition to make to you. In 
the first place I may say I am a better judge of the state of feel- 
ings on both sides than any man in America, for I live right be- 
tween the armies. I believe that good can come out of Nazareth, 
which is a great thing to learn in this world." 

"What is your proposition, Mr. Botts?" inquired the surgeon. 

"It is this: here are representatives from both the Federal 
and Confederate armies, and I, an unprejudiced judge. Now I 
know you are both tired of fighting, so let us have a peace con- 
ference, and try to find some way to end this fratricidal war. 
Each of you make three propositions and see if you cannot har- 
monize upon one. Of course there must be mutual concessions. 
Now. Doctor, you begin first." 

"Well, my first is simple — let the Confederate Army lay down 
its arms in unconditional surrender." 

"Refused at once," said the cavalryman. 

"I don't believe that one-tenth of the people desire such a 
step, even harrowed, wearied, and almost despairing as they are, 
and I am sure that if a ballot were taken in Lee's army to-mor- 
row the proposal would be rejected almost vmanimously. What! 
The proud Army of Northern Virginia, the victor of a score of 



THE PEACE CONFERENCE 637 

battle-fields! lay down its arms because the horizon looks dark 
and gloomy? The very thought is preposterous." 

"Well," continued the surgeon, gazing into the fire and pull- 
ing his moustache, "I am going still farther, and make a proposal 
that I know the Moderate party would agree to, and which the 
Radical party would fight tooth and nail, but both President Lin- 
coln and General Grant would, I think, favor the scheme, which 
would settle it on our side. It is this : lay down your arms, sur- 
render your fortified towns, disband your armies, give up all cap- 
tured property, yield Davis and the Rebel Cabinet into our hands 
for hostages of good faith, go back to your homes, call your 
legislatures together, codify your laws, make new ones, extinguish 
slaverv, elect Congressmen and enter into the Union with all your 
rights unimpaired. 

"Would you pay for the slaves?" inquired the Lieutenant. 

"No, of course not; their loss would be one of the vicissitudes 
of war." 

"No," said the cavalryman, "that would not answer." 

"Why," rejoined the surgeon earnestly, "what better could 
yoii expect? Your Government is nearly at the end of its re- 
sources. Just look at the situation as it is now. Can any rea- 
sonable man doubt the result? The great section of the Missis- 
sippi is utterly lost to the Confederacy, your armies in that sec- 
tion practically disbanded. In the West there is not the shadow 
of a hope. Atlanta has fallen. Sherman with his splendid army 
is marching at will throughout the South, while Johnston, with 
a remnant of disheartened, half-starved soldiers, can only retreat, 
blow up and set fire to public property to keep it from falling into 
our hands, while the sole prop and stay of the South is General 
Lee's army; and compare its condition with ours — his ranks are 
depleted and there are no recruits to replace the gaps ; his men 
are half starved and half naked, the country round is barren, and 
the certain capture of the Southern forts will shut the door to 
your last source of supply from Nassau. Where will your muni- 
tions of war come from ? Not to speak of your horses for artil- 
lery and cavalry, even granting that you escape from the clutches 
of Grant, which you surely cannot do. Your Government is 
absolutely bankrupt, your currency worthless, the people sick 
and tired of war, your rank and file are disheartened and worn 
out. No matter how devoted and brave they are, human endur- 
ance has a limit and that limit is nearly reached. The people of 
the North see this plainly, and grant unstinted supplies to bring 



62,S JOHNNY REB AND BII^I^Y YANK 

the war to a speedy end. Grant has an army of four to your one, 
superbly equipped and flushed with the certainty of an early 
peace; it gets stronger every day, and only waits for the spring 
to open to close in a last and bloody trial. What are you going 
to do? How will you act? Lee is locked tight in Richmond, he 
cannot escape : Grant on one flank, Sheridan on the other, with 
Sherman in his rear, there is not a ghost of a chance. This dying 
in the last ditch is absurd folly; it means a frenzied struggle 
and a useless waste of blood to soak the ground that has been 
crimson before. It can do no good and only exasperates the 
North and places the power in the hands of the politicians, who 
hate the South. Why not submit at once? None can call you 
cowards ; the bravest army surrenders when over-matched. Ac- 
cept the proposition and we will be a grand, indivisible country 
once more, united in stronger ties, bound by links of mutual re- 
spect and riveted in States of common brotherhood." 

"The case is well put," said Mr. Botts; 'T endorse every word 
of it as true. What is your answer, Lieutenant?" 

"An unqualified refusal. The Army of Northern Virginia is 
made of metal that can only surrender on the battle-field after a 
disastrous defeat. The Doctor has painted a gloomy picture of 
the absolute hopelessness of our cause, and while I concede that 
the outlook is dark for our side, I do not for a moment adopt his 
conclusions. History teaches that of all uncertain things, the 
final issue of a great civil war is the most doubtful. Its chances 
are varied; the results often confounding the wisest heads. The 
cause of Scotland was more hopeless than ours, yet Bannockburn 
gained her independence. Prussia in the seven years of war was 
reduced to greater straits than the South, and Frederick was 
faced by larger odds than even Lee is now, and yet Prussia to-day 
sliapes the fate and dictates the policy of Europe. In the 
gloomy, despairing days of the Revolution, in that horrible winter 
when Washington at Valley Forge was literally losing his army 
by desertion and the most sanguine patriots despaired of success, 
the victory of Trenton flashed across the sky and brought light 
into the gloom. I do not recognize our cause as hopeless; far 
from it. My faith is as strong as it was a year ago." 

"Is that faith shared by your comrades and by the rank and 
file?" queried the host. 

"Yes ! they have a sublime trust that General Lee can extricate 
them from any difficulty and win victory from the jaws of defeat. 
Be certain of this before you conquer, — as you say you will, — it will 



THE PKACE CONFERENCE 639 

be after a struggle so desperate that even the past, bloody as it is, 
will not equal it. A frantic army of superb veteran soldiery in a 
solid phalanx, standing at bay. is capable of any feat. Now look 
at the matter in my light. If Lee sees his cause is hopeless, he 
will advance suddenly into the North and fight, and if he must 
fall, fall there. Well, suppose you capture him and garrison 
every town, will you be any nearer the completion of your task 
then ? I believe not. The whole immense territory of the 
South would be filled with guerrilla bands. Small movable col- 
unms would, like Mosby and Forrest, strike you at every exposed 
point. You would have to burn every house as you advanced, 
and the war would then become one of extermination. No quar- 
ter would be given or asked. Where would you get recruits 
then to engage in such a service? Remember that the first 
check the victorious legions of Napoleon ever received was from 
the hands of the peasantry of Spain, who, amid the mountain fast- 
nesses, fought long and successfully against the finest infantry in 
the world. Our territory is a hundred times larger than Spain — 
larger than the whole of civilized Europe. How could you hold 
such a people in bondage? It would require a million men. 
How long could the United States stand such a burden? Sooner 
or later it must succumb and grant our own terms. Again, if the 
worst came, we would arm our slaves and free them ; they would 
fight desperately and devotedly alongside of their old masters, 
and what then? No, our cause is not a hopeless one. A single 
great victory would restore all that we have lost lately, and nearly 
every soldier in our army is determined to fight now as he never 
fought before. An army of fifty thousand veterans led by Lee 
will change the map of North America yet.'' 

''Never, never!" impulsively cried the surgeon. 

"You honestly believe what you say," said Mr. Botts, "but 
your reasonings are unsound. The longest purse is bound to 
win in this world, and your guerrilla warfare would never occur, 
for the people are too heartily wearied with the war, and want 
peace at any price." 

"I know my people," replied the Lieutenant, "and am con- 
vinced that if Lee ordered it, they would obey." 

"Well, we won't discuss that point. I'll give you my third prop- 
osition," and the Doctor leaned over, took a fresh cigar from 
the box and lighted it by a piece of coal held between the tongs. 

"My third and last proposition is as lenient as I can go. Our 
army might favor it but I doubt if the Government, especially 
our Secretary of War, would listen to the proposal for an in- 



640 JOHNNY REB and BILLY YANK 

stant. Let each army lay up on its arms and declare an armistice 
for thirty days, and if at the expiration of that time you still hold 
out, and refuse my second proposition, then hostilities would 
be renewed; the matter settled at once one way or another." 
"If you move your army ofif our soil, I would consent." 
"That would be out of the question." 
"Now, Lieutenant, state your three propositions." 
"Well, here goes ! My first is, to acknowledge the independ- 
ence of the Southern Confederacy." 

"Vetoed at once !" exclaimed the surgeon. 

"The second is to declare an armistice of sixty days and put the 
question to the vote of the Northern people whether the war shall 
continue or the independence of the South be acknowledged." 

"That question," responded the Doctor, "was practically set- 
tled last fall when McClellan, a Peace Democrat, ran against Lin- 
coln, a War Republican, and was beaten out of sight. What's 
your third?" 

"My third is that you pledge the faith of your Government to 
repay us for our slave property and allow us to take our place in 
the Union unimpaired; we to give up all war munitions to the 
United States Government." 

"Such a scheme is simply impracticable," said the Doctor. "It 
would never be a restored Union under such circumstances; 
besides, the North would never consent to pay so much as one 
cent for the freedmen, to say nothing of a hundred million 
dollars." 

"Well, the conference is ofT!" uttered the cavalryman. 
"I have listened to your discussion," interrupted Mr. Botts, 
"carefully and attentively, and I make one prediction : If the 
Confederacy exists this day four months, I will make out a deed 
to you. Lieutenant, for my property." 

"You seem to be very sanguine, Mr. Botts." 
"I am not sanguine, I am certain." 

"Well, prepare your title-deeds, for I will claim your promise. 
I have faith in Lee next to my God, and all the words spoken 
cannot make me doubt for a moment our ultimate success." 
"Then die in the last ditch!" was the host's reply. 
"We will !" impulsively responded the Lieutenant ; "and mark 
me, that ditch will be a bloody one, and there will be more weep- 
ing and wailing throughout this country before it is filled." 

"Yes," and the surgeon's face looked gloomy, "I fear so, and 
T am weary and heartsick with this eternal killing and maiming; 
but the North will not vield, she cannot." 



THE PEACE CONEERENCE 64 1 

"Why is the North so determined to subjugate us?" I asked. 
"We are not over-running her country nor burning her barns, we 
are simply fighting on our own soil." 

"We are fighting for the flag." 

"No, Doctor," interrupted Mr. Botts, "the North is too mater- 
ialistic to spend her blood and treasure for a sentiment. It is 
because the people know that if the Southern Confederacy suc- 
ceeds the North will have to keep up a vast standing army and 
all the attendant evils of a class oligarchy; and last, but not least, 
of a burdensome taxation, which would in the end ruin her pros- 
perity." 

"That is partly the reason," replied the surgeon, "but the love 
of the old flag is the great inspiration which keeps our armies 
together, and I have often wondered how you Southerners could 
fire upon it." 

"Why, Doctor," I said, "how can the majority of our soldiers 
love that which they have never seen? The North is a manu- 
facturing country, full of villages and cities, and the stars and 
stripes spreads to the breeze at every muster and celebration. 
Now the South is an agricultural region, and outside of its few 
cities never has a gathering except a barbecue or a horse-race, 
I do not really believe that one Southern soldier in ten ever saw 
an American flag, except through the smoke of battle. We 
can't love a flag we have never known any more than we can 
adore a woman whom we have never met." 

"That's so, boys !" cried the great Virginia Unionist. "I always 
said that furore about the flag was a dodge, and a damn shrewd 
one, of Mr. Seward's. The practical moneyed men of the North 
are supporting the war from deeper motives than that. Here's 
to old Seward's health, anyway. I know him well, and he is the 
brainiest man in this country to-day." So saying, Mr. Botts 
tossed off his three fingers of brandy and we kept him company. 

The next morning my prisoner reported, and after exchanging 
adieux with my companions we took a stirrup-cup with my host. 

I departed for Orange Court House, some twenty miles dis- 
tant where a detachment of our forces lay. We reached there 
in the evening after an uneventful ride. Turning over my pris- 
oner and getting a receipt from the provost marshal, I left him 
reluctantl3\ with strong charges to the officers to treat him 
kindly and well. I may say here that the mule's back was so 
swollen that it looked as if a pulpy cushion was attached to him 
instead of a saddle. 
41 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 
"the debatable eand/' 

Four miles from Orange Court House was the residence of 
Major John H. Lee, whose plantation, "Litchfield," was well 
known to all the officers of Pickett's division, for the Major was 
exceedingly hospitable. I stayed under his roof several days 
and traded my captured mule, and another which I owned, for a 
very fine three-year old blooded mare. She proved a number-one 
mount. 

I started back to Fauquier on another scout, stopping en 
route at my right-hearted, wrong-headed cousin's, and soon after 
I was leisurel}^ journeying through Mosby's Confederacy, or "The 
Debatable Land." 

The broad county of Fauquier and a portion of Prince William 
and Culpeper, for the last two years of the war, had been the "Great 
Debatable Land" of the two armies, in all that the name implied. 

Like that section of Scotland during the revolution, that was 
alternately harried by the Highlanders and sacked by the Low- 
landers, or like the low countries in the bloody war of the League, 
so this region was the theater of the hostilities. They had suf- 
fered more from the effects of the conflict than any other counties 
in any States of the Confederacy. 

In the upper county, from the Piedmont section near the Blue 
Ridge Mountains to the marshy lowlands lying near the Orange 
and Alexandria Railroad and on the Rappahannock River, there 
was not a panel of fencing left, and there was not a single house 
in that vast boundary which had not been visited, searched and 
sacked. All around could be seen the direful presence of war — 
the churches with their gaping entrances, the doors torn of¥, the 
windows smashed, and the rough charcoal scribblings on the 
walls; tall, spectral-looking chimneys, which stood like gaunt 
sentinels surveying the ruins and guarding the place where once 
the sacred family hearthstone stood, and around which, but a few 
years back, little children, lusty manhood and doting age had 
clustered. 

Rich fields, once bearing on their bosoms the waving grain, 
now lay bare and sere or were fast growing up in their primeval 



"thd debatabIvE; i.and" 643 

wilds, a perfect wilderness of briers, weeds and rank undergrowth ; 
and in these thickets the scouts lurked. 

All the forests for miles on both sides of the railroad had been 
felled ; not only by the troops for fuel, but also to prevent guer- 
rillas lurking near for the purpose of tearing up tracks and wreck- 
ing trains, for it was this single Hne of railway which had fur- 
nished the whole Army of the Potomac with supplies. 

Only unsightly stumps marked where the lofty, spreading oaks 
had once been. The whole country as far as the eye could reach 
bore a peculiarly desolate and deserted look. The roads, as might 
be expected, were in bad weather almost impassable, being full of 
hollows and hog wallows; upon their surface were no foot-prints 
of horses, no marks made by the rut of wheels. One might 
travel for days and meet no one except a chance scout hurrying 
across country as though he wanted to get out of sight as quickly 
as possible. A vagrant crow would take his place on some dead 
bough and his harsh caw would be the only sound which broke 
the solitude. Every man who traveled here literally carried his 
life in his hands. Each object that moved was one of suspicion. 
Two cavalrymen meeting w^ould talk to each other with their 
hands gripped tightly upon their pistol-butts until satisfied that 
neither was in disguise. A lone darky plodding along would 
be halted, searched and subjected to the closest examination, and 
only released on the clearest evidence, for all the information 
which the Yankees obtained of our movements in this section was 
gleaned from negroes, and a prowding son of Africa was an ob- 
ject of intense dislike and suspicion. 

A dismal, lonesome region it looked to a stranger. One could 
see at a glance wdiat page upon page of written matter could not 
convey. But if the face of the country was changed and so sadly 
altered, the majority of the inhabitants were not; instead of 
being crushed by their dire poverty, or humiliated and cowed by 
the fearful destruction of their property, they were defiant and 
more unyielding than ever. Broken in fortune, their negroes all 
spirited away, every horse, and wnth few exceptions every head 
of cattle swept off by the foe, their barns burned, their store- 
rooms plundered, they never despaired nor lost heart. There 
were none at honie except old men, women and children. It 
would require a day's journey to discover a stalwart citizen, for 
all true men were in the army. The women managed to get 
along some way when the dark times came. The old men might 
grumble as much as they pleased about the seemingly never- 



644 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

ending contest, as old men will do about anything, but a word of 
complaint was never heard to pass the lips of the women; they 
were as true and staunch to their Commonwealth as the proud, de- 
voted Carthaginian maidens who cut off their flowing tresses to 
make bow-strings for the soldiers. 

Among the lower classes the most intense hatred was felt and 
expressed against the invader. Many of these were unlettered 
people who never understood what the war was about, but they 
knew the Union soldiers killed or wounded their husbands, broth- 
ers, and sons; it was the man who wore the blue uniform who 
seized their cattle, took their chickens, and plundered their home- 
steads; they did not stop to think that this was the inevitable 
result of living in the theater of the great conflict. 

Just here it may be said that every army has its hordes of 
thieves in its train, and they will pillage at every chance, especially 
so, as the general-in-chief. General Pope, gave them free license 
to do so; a license which the other commanders revoked, but not 
until the poison had done its work. 

It was a hard life which these old men, women and children 
lived. They cultivated no regular crops, for they had neither the 
motive power nor the strength ; nor would it have benefited 
them. A little field of corn and some vegetables was their all; 
a cow, perhaps, hidden in the thicket ; a few hogs, maybe, in a pen 
concealed in a swamp summed up their personal property, which 
would not have brought much revenue to the tax collector, but 
would prove a bonanza to a scouting party of blue-coats. 

The situation of some families living along the railroad, sur- 
rounded by the enemy's bivouacs or quarters, was pitiable and 
distressing beyond words. Refusing to take the oath of alle- 
giance, and thereby obtain supplies from the Federal quarter- 
master, they suffered in a manner which bordered upon positive 
famine. Delicate women of the higher class, who but a few years 
ago lived in affluence with a train of attendants to do their bid- 
ding, would often be seen by the scouts wandering about the 
deserted camps of the enemy hunting for the mess pork, the 
crackers and old clothing which had been left behind. It was a 
common sight to witness young girls whose grace and beauty 
would make them remarked at the opera or ball, with benumbed 
fingers and chilled bodies, striving to cut wood, or nearly bent 
double with a bundle of fagots upon their back. They per- 
formed all the menial tasks such as only strong servants would 
do ; washed, ironed, cooked, planted their gardens, milked the 



"TIIK DEBATABI.E LAND'' 645 

COWS, fed the hogs (if they had any) and did all the drudgery of 
the farm. 

Through it all they kept up their high courage and at no time 
murmured at their lot. No matter what the occupation, their 
dignity was never lost ; their high-bred refinement, that name- 
less charm which bespeaks the true woman, was never laid aside. 

In the country, at least, every house was open to the Southern 
soldier, no matter who he was nor where he came from. If there 
was but a crust of bread in the cupboard it was given him with 
words of welcome. If his shirt w^as in tatters he would find one, 
made from a last skirt, left in his room with a kind note. Were 
he barefoot, or nearly so, from some nook or cranny a pair of old 
boots or shoes would be found. Nimble and ready fingers would 
sew and patch his ragged raiment. 

The daily life of these women in the "Debatable Land" would 
be a fruitful scene for a painter, a noble theme for a poet and a 
touching lesson for a Christian. 

Had the scout lost his weapons in some mad foray, they would 
arm him again from the ample stock they had picked up or 
bought from some Yankee deserter. Were he inclined to falter 
and lose hope, there were brave, encouraging words uttered, 
w^hich lightened his heart and nerved his arm to greater exer- 
tions. Were he sick, no brother could meet with tenderer care. 
For every ill they had a remedy, for every woe a charm. Is it 
wonderful that the soldiers, even though they had no hopes of 
promotion, scarcely any pay, nothing but a dim future full of 
suffering and illumined by no lofty aspirations which cheer above 
all a soldier's path, yet animated by the exalted example of those 
unyielding women, should have held out and suflfered and fought 
staunchly until the last? No! they would not have been men 
with men's souls and hearts, had they wearied. Wrong they 
might be, but their love and devotion would have hallowed any 
cause. There were very few able-bodied men in Fauquier 
County ; indeed those who skulked were insensible to every feel- 
ing of shame. What a mean spirit a man must have to stand the 
plain talk of old men, the jibes and scofifs of the very children, 
the insulting innuendoes of the grandmothers, and worse than 
all, the contemptuous treatment of the fair ones themselves. 
They avoided the youth or man dressed in citizen's garb as the 
Eastern maidens of Bagdad did a leper, "as one accursed of God." 

The first question a lady asked in speaking of one of the oppo- 
site sex was : "Is he a good soldier?" That was the highest praise, 



646 JOHNNY REB AND BIEIyY YANK 

in their opinion, a man could have, and they hated a coward as 
they would some vile, unclean thing-. 

Every house was a small armory. The enemy, with that im- 
provident waste which characterized them, often left firearms 
and great quantities of ammunition in their deserted camps ; 
these the citizens carefully gathered and concealed. There were 
hundreds of deserters and bounty-jumpers making their way to 
the rear, who for an old suit of citizen's clothes would give up 
their arms, so the scouts and rough riders were always amply 
supplied. 

The whole country was full of partisan rangers belonging to 
Alosby or the Black Horse. Every thicket held them ; the 
woodlands were full of armed men who kept well acquainted with 
the enemy's movements. Sharp eyes watched every detail. If 
a convoy started or a train got under way with a small guard, or 
a squad of soldiers in blue left its camp, the intelligence, con- 
veyed by signals from some house, would reach the scouts in an 
inconceivably short time. The blue-coats, trains and all, would 
be sure to be gobbled up. If the force was too large for the 
small number, the scattered cavalrymen in the neighborhood 
would be notified, and soon a squadron of picked troopers would 
be ready and swoop down like a falcon. 

"Mosby's Confederacy" harbored and sheltered that great 
partisan leader and his command. The celerity of Mosby's 
movements was marvelous. One day a Yankee cavalry brigade 
would march through the country searching each house as it 
passed for him and his rangers, but not a soldier could be seen, 
not the glimmer of a sabre nor the flash of a carbine barrel. 
Everything would denote a country which was absolutely ex- 
hausted of men, yet in two hours afterwards three hundred scouts, 
armed to the teeth, would follow hard upon the heels of the invad- 
ing force and strike a deadly blow. Ere morning, and before the 
pursued could smite back, Mosby would be fifty miles off, making 
a dashing raid and disappearing as suddenly as though the earth 
had swallowed his "Rough Riders." 

It was certain capture for a blue-coat to show himself fifty 
yards outside his camp. Even a courier taking a dispatch from 
one encampment to another not a half mile distant had to have 
as heavy an escort as a full general, for there would be half a 
dozen scouts lying at ease in nearly every coppice, watching for 
just such a chance, and they would often spring out and capture 
a party and hurry them off in full sight of their friends. 



"the debatable I.AND" 647 

The scouts bivouacked generally in the pine woods and bushes, 
which shielded them from the cold, the pine needles making 
a soft carpet to lie upon. A signal from the windows of the 
house let them know when it was safe to enter. The signals in 
the daytime were the arrangements of the shutters ; in the night 
the method would be a grouping of the lights. The girls always 
kept watch when the scouts were in the house, both in sunshine 
and darkness, and gave timely warning ; they were ever ready to 
guard a prisoner while the captors ate and slept; their hands 
were as steady, their eyes as pitiless when on this duty, as if the 
sexes had been changed. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

DISASTER AND DEFEAT IN THE VALLEY. 

Autumn of 1864. 

Reaching' Thome's house, I found him ready for another raid. 
But a spell of inclement weather made long scouting on foot im- 
practicable, so we took things easy and waited for something to 
turn up. 

The chilling frosts of November found the armies in Virginia 
resting from six months' incessant marching and battling. 

There was never seen more stubborn courage and unconquer- 
able tenacity of purpose than was displayed by the Army of the 
Potomac and that of the Army of Northern Virginia after they had 
joined issue in the spring not long since gone. Face to face they 
had swayed backward and forward, alternate victors for the day; 
they might decimate, but not conquer one nor the other. 

In all the battles of the world one day has decided the con- 
test, leaving one army flying in dismay and the other flushed 
with decisive victory. In the New World there were fashioned 
two armies composed of the finest fighting material of which the 
annals of history ever makes mention. 

The bitterest, deadliest contest of ancient times between Rome 
and Carthage, culminating in the Second Phenician War, was 
nothing compared to America's internecine strife. Not one bloody 
battle had been fought, but a score. Not a dozen hotly-con- 
tested skirmishes, but hundreds; and in the late fall, after three 
years of bloody strife, with half their number dead or wounded, 
these two Anglo-Saxon hosts confronted each other with dauntless 
crest and defiant eyes. Had all conditions been equal, the strug- 
gle would have ended simply in a war of extermination. 

The South, like a giant pierced with many wounds, was slowly 
weakening. God seemed to have forsaken them. The strains 
of the "Star Spangled Banner" from the Yankee bands seemed 
more acceptable to the ears of Providence than the hymns 
chanted by the Rebel soldiery around their camp-fires. 

All that desperate valor, devotion which knew no bounds, 
patriotism which was sublime in its purity could do, was done by 
the army and the people of Virginia. 



DISASTER AND DEFEAT IN THE VAEEEY 649 

Had the Confederate Government performed its duty, or had 
Mr. Davis died or resigned at the commencement of the cam- 
paign, affairs would have worn a different aspect. 

The Fabius of the Southern Revolution had been removed by 
the President ; and when Mr. Davis, who thought himself infalli- 
ble, took a dislike, he became stone blind in his hatred. 

\\'hen the Autocrat of Richmond removed Johnston from the 
head of the Army of the Tennessee he dealt a stab deep in the 
vitals of the Confederacy, and the fair Southland was open to the 
Federals to march where they would. 

Another great — nay fatal — mistake was the placing of General 
Jubal Early in command of the Army of the Valley. It short- 
ened the war fully a year. When Jackson's old legions were 
destroyed the end was near. 

The Army of Northern Virginia was fearfully thinned in ranks. 
The loss had been frightful and but few of the regiments num- 
bered over two hundred men. 

Grant had Lee nearly surrounded and slowly but surely was 
contracting his encircling lines, Lee, mindful of this, had dis- 
patched Early, with Jackson's old corps, to threaten Washington, 
and extricate him from the dread dilemma of a forced retreat or 
a persistent siege. But the famous "foot cavalry" had no longer 
a leader with transcendent military genius to snatch victory from 
the jaws of defeat ; instead, they were placed under the control of 
one who was unfitted by his personal habits for commanding a 
separate army, even had he possessed the qualifications. 

General Early had placed under him in the summer of 1864 
probably the finest body of infantry which the modern world ever 
produced. It was organized and trained under Jackson and ani- 
mated with his unquenchable ardor. Its celerity of movement 
was wonderful, and the small, compact army of veterans could be 
shifted from point to point with a suddenness absolutely startling. 
Lender a leader of even mediocre military genius, in such a 
theater as the Valley of Virginia and the wide fields of Maryland, 
there should have been no bounds to their achievements. 

In July, 1864, when Early commanded the Valley District, his 
troops, according to General A. L. Long, Chief of Artillery. Sec- 
ond Corps, consisted of 10,000 infantry and 40 guns, with 1,500 
cavalry, making of all arms an army of 15,000 veteran troops. 

They were perfect soldiers, veterans of many battles, trained 
like race-horses, and could make their forty miles steadily from 
Sundav mornino- till Saturdav nis^ht. with several miles in addi- 



650 JOHNNY REB and BILLY YANK 

tion in an emergency. The}^ could live on a pound of meal a day; 
and all were fine marksmen, who understood all the arts of pro- 
tection in battle, at the same time inflicting damage upon the foe. 
Then the flying artillery and field batteries were in the highest 
state of efficiency. 

With 10,000 such men, had they been manoeuvred properly, 
they would have been a terror; their fleetness would have neu- 
tralized all odds which could be brought ag'ainst them. Stonewall's 
old corps believed themselves almost invincible. The men who had 
followed Stonewall Jackson over unnumbered miles, and whose 
only check was at Gettysburg, were never yet routed. As Ma- 
caulay said of Cromwell's Ironsides, "they came to regard the day 
of battle as the day of certain triumph." 

Had either Generals Gordon, Beauregard, or Alahone been placed 
as their commander, imagination runs riot in thinking what might 
ha^'e been accomplished and in knowing what would have taken 
place. 

At first Early achieved some success. He drove Hunter back 
from Lynchburg, but allowed him to escape with his whole com- 
mand. Fortune offered the South two more chances in the 
summer of sixty-four, and General Early caused the failure of 
both. 

The ninth of July saw the "foot cavalry" across the Potomac 
with General Lew VVallace in their front. Attacking him, Gor- 
don's nien. after a spirited fight, routed him, and Early at once 
turned toward Washington. Every one of Old Stonewall's men 
felt sure that they would soon file through the streets of the Na- 
tional Capital. They marched, rather they dog-trotted, and ran 
from Monocacy Bridge eastward, and on the eleventh of July 
drew up before Washington. 

Early made his headquarters at Mr. Blair's, who was a member 
of President Lincoln's former Cabinet ; and thereby hangs a tale, 
for it was common gossip in the days succeeding, among the rank 
and file, that a keg of old peach brandy which Alontgomery Blair 
left at his house saved Washington from capture. It was said 
and believed by Early's men that on the evening of the nth of 
July, 1864, he drank long and deeply from that keg, and sank into 
a deep slumber which lasted for hours, and from which nothing 
could rouse him ; and that is why the order to advance was not 
given. 

The Rebel skirnn'shers crept closer and closer to the city, and soon 
a steady stream of all kinds of emissaries of the Southern sympa- 



DISASTER AND DEFEAT IN THE VAEEEY 65 1 

thizers came to them. Old negroes, young children, boys, all 
reaching our skirmishers, had but one tale to tell : "Come in at 
once, there are only Department clerks in the trenches. Don't 
delay, but come at once." 

The morning hours slipped away, and when the Rebels ad- 
vanced twelve hours later they struck plum against their old 
adversary the Sixth Corps, and the sight of that steady line of 
l)lue convinced every private that the jig was up. 

Swinton says : "On the eleventh of July Early's van reined 
up before the fortifications covering the northern approaches to 
Washington. By afternoon the Confederate infantry had come up, 
and showed a strong line in front of Fort Stephens. Early then 
had an opportunity to dash into the city, the works being very 
slightly defended. The hope at headquarters, that the Capital 
could be saved from capture, was very slender. But his conduct 
was feeble, and during the day the Sixth Corps arrived, and was 
soon followed by the Nineteenth. After this no one with sound 
nerves had any fears of Washington's capture." 

General Gordon, who commanded the advance, says, in his book, 
''Reminiscences of the Civil War" : "I myself rode to a point on 
those breastworks at which there was no force whatever. The un- 
protected space was broad enough for the easy passage of Early's 
army without resistance. The rank and file of the army were bit- 
terly resentful that they were not permitted to enter the city; they 
never forgave Early." 

From that day the grim \eterans fought well, but never with 
dash, and firm determination to do or die, the spirit which had 
heretofore made them victorious on many a bloody field. 

Early and his friends claim that he could not have taken Wash- 
ington, and even if he had it would have done no good. 

However ! Suppose Stonewall Jackson had been in command 
of the corps he loved so well ; only imagine ! Nay, we know 
what he would have done. Closing up his infantry, he would 
have stormed the defenses on the morning of the eleventh, occu- 
pied the city, then dispatched picked bodies of cavalrymen down 
the Potomac, ninety miles distant, and by impressing every horse 
along the route, they could have reached Point Lookout in twenty- 
four hours, and liberated 19,000 Confederate prisoners of war 
confined therein, and all veterans at that. His army thus rein- 
forced he could have marched to Baltimore, and there the Knights 
of the Golden Circle had many recruits to join him. Then — 
well ! each one can read the result and foretell the conse- 



652 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

quences according to the bias of his own mind. He would cer- 
tainly have loosened the grip of Grant's iron fingers from around 
Lee's throat. 

Early's whole campaign was but one succession of sickening 
blunders. Defeat followed defeat with portentous rapidity. He 
was beaten in every fight — at Opequon Creek, Fisher's Hill, 
Strasburg and Hallton, and saved himself only by showing his 
heels. 

The last chance the South had of winning her independence, 
and a good one at that, was deliberately thrown away by General 
Jubal Early, and with inconceivable duplicity he tried to shift the 
blame from his shoulders to that of the rank and file. 

"I won a brilliant victory, but my men left the ranks and went 
to plundering the Yankee camps, and were so demoralized that 
they made no resistance." 

Never was a baser charge conceived by a baser mind. Early 
had nothing to do with winning the victory ; the plan, the execu- 
tion, and the onslaught was made by General Gordon, and it was 
a scheme as brilliant, audacious and successful as that of Marl- 
borough in winning the battle of Malpaquet in 1709. 

Sheridan, after administering a crushing defeat to Early at 
Fisher's Hill, went into camp fully satisfied that he had clipped 
the claws and drawn the teeth from the panther of the Valley, so 
he called the huntsmen off, and officers and men sat at ease, en- 
joying the glorious Virginia autumn weather. 

Sheridan's right was protected by his corps of superb cavalry, 
ten thousand strong; his left was perfectly secure, at least he 
and his subordinates thought so as they gazed at the precipitous 
front of Massanutten Mountain and the swift-flowing river beneath. 
As well expect the Rebels to swoop like eagles from the sky. 

General Gordon, in company with his stafif officers, and General 
Evans, of Georgia, climbed to the top of the Massanutten, and 
from this aerie they, with powerful field-glasses, saw every man, 
horse and gun at their feet, and the soldiery taking things as 
coolly as if there was not a Rebel nearer than Richmond. 

General Gordon, as he gazed upon the scene, must have felt 
the same fierce joy fill his heart that Stonewall Jackson did when 
he saw the unsuspecting Dutchmen who constituted Hooker's 
right wing at Chancellorsville. 

Gordon turned to his companions with the remark that if Early 
approved of his plan and let him follow it to the end, the total de- 



DISASTER AND DEFEAT IN THE VALLEY 653 

stniction of Sheridan was inevitable. ("Reminiscences of the Civil 
War," by Lieut. -General Gordon, p. 335.) 

It was a good omen that Kershaw's crack division of Carolin- 
ians had just arrived the day before, bringing faith and hope to 
the Army of the Valley. 

There was a narrow path that zigzagged down the rocky fast- 
ness of Massanutten, and all that night the hardy infantry crept and 
glided in single file along this low tract, and forded and swam the 
Shenandoah, and at dawai of day formed in line of battle within 
pistol-shot of Sheridan's sleeping army. 

Gordon gave the word, "Forward!" 

The silence of the solemn calm morn was broken by the for- 
boding Rebel yell issuing from thousands of throats. 

History repeats itself. What schoolboy has not learned by 
heart the attack of Marco Bozzaris upon the Turkish camp at 
Laspi? 

Never was a surprise more complete, never was there a success 
more quickly earned. The Federal soldiers who were not shot 
down had either to surrender or seek safety in flight. It was 
"every man for himself, and the Devil take the hindmost." 

All lines of discipline disappeared, and a fleeing mass raced to 
the rear. 

An hour after sunrise the Federal camp was captured and 
nearly all their artillery was seized. Their fine cavalry force was 
panic-stricken and retreated before Rosser's attack. The Sixth 
Corps of Sherman's army alone kept its formation, but they were 
badly rattled. 

Gordon now made his final preparations for the coup; his 
army was fresh, united, and wild with victory. Gordon being 
ready, he drew back his arm to strike; his lips were parted to 
give the signal to advance, when that evil genius of the South 
stopped the blow, stilled the lips, and gave to the cause he fought 
for a deadly thrust. 

Let Gordon tell the tale in his own words. 

"Two entire corps, the Eighth and Nineteenth, constituting 
two-thirds of Sherman's army, swarmed in utter disorganization 
tn the rear. Only the Sixth Corps held its ground, and it was 
(loomed unless some marvelous intervention should check the 
Confederate concentration that was forming against it. That in- 
tervention did occur, and it was a truly marvelous one, for it 
came from the Confederate commander himself. It was at that 
hour largely outnumbered, and I had directed every Confederate 



654 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

command to assail it in front and upon both flanks simulta- 
neously. I also directed Colonel Thomas Carter, the brilliant chief 
of artillery, to gallop along the broad highway with all of his bat- 
teries and every piece of captured artillery available and pour an 
incessant sheet of shot and shell upon this solitary remaining 
corps, explaining at the same time the movement I had ordered 
the infantry to make. As Colonel Carter surveyed the position of 
Sheridan's Sixth Corps he exclaimed : 'General, you will need no 
infantry ; with an enfilade fire from my batteries I will destroy that 
corps in twenty minutes. 

"At this moment General Early came on the field and said : 
^Well, Gordon ! Well, Gordon, this is glory enough for one day.' 

"I pointed to the Sixth Corps and replied : 'But we have one 
more blow to strike, and then there will not be an organized com- 
pany of infantry in Sheridan's army.' 

"When I had finished explaining my plans for its destruction. 
Early replied : 'Yes, it will go away directly if you let it alone.' 

"My heart sank into my boots. And so it came to pass that the 
fatal halting, and the orderly retreat of this Federal corps lost us 
the great opportunity, and converted the brilliant victory of the 
morning into disastrous defeat in the evening. There we stood 
and dallied away six precious hours, and allowed the enemy to 
rally and make a counter-attack with all of his force. This was 
done, and owing to Early leaving a wide gap in his line, which was 
pierced by the enemy, and our victory converted into one of 
the most complete and ruinous routs in the entire war. It makes 
one dizzy to think of such a headlong descent from the Elysium 
of triumph to the Erebus of despair." (Ibid.) 

General Early insisted, and so stated in his published report, that 
the "bad conduct" of his own men caused the astounding disaster. 

General Early himself realized later the fatal mistake of the halt, 
and gave an indicative caution to his faithful staff officer, who was 
leaving with a sketch of Cedar Creek for General Lee. 

Captain Hotchkiss said : 

"General Early told me not to tell General Lee that we ought 
to have advanced in the morning at Middletown, for, said he, 
'we ought to have done so.' " 

The private soldiers who served under Early disliked him with 
the same unholy rancor that Satan is said to maintain for holy 
water, and they had ample cause. 

Early declared in his official reports and in his book that he 



DISASTER AND DEi'EAT IN TliK VALEEY 655 

lost the battle owing to the subsequent bad conduct of the 
troops. Thus he shifts the blame from his own shoulders and 
places it on the shoulders of the barefooted, ragged veterans. 
There was not one of them who was in that battle who did not 
know the truth ; and to those men who made Stonewall Jack- 
son's corps famous, to be charged with cowardice or worse, made 
them mad almost to the point of mutiny. 

General Gordon nobly comes to the rescue of those men and 
proves by irrefutable testimony that Early was a wilful and ma- 
licious liar. He cites the testimony of General Evans, who com- 
manded a division; General Cullen A. Battle, Major-General 
Wharton. Generals Winston and Goggin, and a host of witnesses 
bear willing testimony that the soldiers were in line of battle 
eager to advance, and remained staunch and firm all day. The 
plundering- of the Yankee camps was by men on the sick list, 
wagon teamsters, and the drift of "non-coms" that follow in the 
wake of every army. 

Is it any wonder that after this the rank and file refused to 
peril their lives under this unfair, unsafe man? A whole regi- 
ment of our cavalry would ride off laughing if they saw advancing 
a group of blue and yellow uniforms. 

His men entertained so poor an opinion of Early that they would 
have beat a retreat as soon as the fire got hot. They knew he would 
never gain a victory, and thought it no use making any desperate ef- 
forts or sacrificing their lives. 

Early was to Sheridan what Banks was to Stonewall Jackson, and 
when rifles, guns and howitzers would be sent him from Richmond 
the soldiers would write upon them in pencil, charcoal and chalk, 
"General Sheridan, care of Jubal A. Early." 

In a letter to General Early from that brilliant cavalry leader Gen- 
eral Rosser, who commanded the celebrated "Laurel Brigade," he 
says, brave man that he is : 

"I participated in the latter part of your Valley Campaign, and I 
feel that I not only have the right, but that it is my duty, one that 
I owe to posterity, to explain as far as I am able the cause of the 
disasters which befell your army in the Valley. Certainly, from 
the escape of Hunter at Lynchburg to the capture of your little army 
at Waynesboro, such a series of disasters never occurred in the an- 
nals of war. 

"Incompetency is not a crime, and that you failed in the Valley 
was not due to your neglect or carelessness, for I know you were as- 



656 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

sidnous, but God did not make you a general, and it was General 
R. E. Lee's over-estimate of you, or in other words I may say, it was 
General R. E. Lee's mistake in trusting so important a command as 
that you had, to you before you had been fully tried. 

"Yours truly, Thomas L. Rosser." 

General Early did not possess those qualities which constitute a 
leader. He had an ill-disciplined mind, with no self-poise. He was 
profane, loving the red wine and lacking magnetism which inspires 
the troops and urges them to victory. 

Had he possessed nerve and will, he never would have permitted 
the Valley to have been devastated as it was by the foe. 

Jackson or Mosby would have demanded reprisals. Read "Little 
Phil's" orders, which did not even provoke a protest from that mild 
warrior, Early. 

In the late fall General Sheridan issued the following instructions 
to General Merritt : 

"Hd. Mil. Div., Nov. 15th, '64. 

"To clear the country of these parties (Mosby, White and Gil- 
mor's Rangers) you will consume and destroy all substance and for- 
age, burn all barns and mills with contents, drive off all stock in the 
region. 

"This order must be literally executed. 

"P. H. Sheridan." 

This pronunciamento has but one parallel in history — that of the 
commands of grim Henry the Eighth to the Earl of Hertford to 
suppress the rebellion in Scotland. 

The fair Valley was a mass of smoking ruins ; nothing left stand- 
ing but the dwelling houses ; nothing left unkilled but the despair- 
ing inmates ; and the burden of the cries which came from trembling 
lips was, "O for another Stonewall Jackson !" 

In a communication to General Rosser I asked him to write an 
account of the Valley Campaign, and give a soldier's criticism upon 
General Early's management thereof. In response I secured the 
following : 

"Sir: 

"General J. A. Early states in his 'Memoirs,' page 42, that he re- 
ceived orders from General R. E. Lee on the 12th of June to pro- 
ceed to the Valley against Hunter, taking with him the 12th Army 
Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia and two battal'ons of ar- 



DISASTER AND DEFEAT IN THE VALLEY 657 

tillery; and in pursuance to said order he marched early on the 
morning of the 13th. 

"At the time General Lee gave this order to General Early it was 
known to them both that General Sheridan, in command of a large 
force of Union cavalry and artillery, was moving in the same direc- 
tion, and that General Hampton and Fitz Lee were in pursuit of 
him. On the nth and 12th Hampton and Lee fought a hard battle 
with Sheridan at Trevillian, defeating him, turning him back, and 
thus eliminating him as a factor in the scheme against Lynchburg 
and the campaign in which Early was to participate. Yet with these 
facts before him. Early did not communicate with Hampton and Lee 
(see Hampton), but heedlessly blundered along, as if 'all zuere 
in waiting for him to arrive before the performance zvottld begin/ 
Had General Early been an able general, he would, on leaving the 
trenches around Richmond, have sent an efficient staff officer with a 
body of intelligent scouts, well ahead, with instructions to use the 
telegraph and all other means of communication, and thus put him- 
self in communication with the forces which were opposing Hunter 
and Sheridan. 

"Had he done this, General Breckenridge, who was at Lynchburg, 
could have had cars at Charlottesville to meet him and his army 
might thus have been put into Lynchburg the night of the i6th in- 
stead of the p. m. of the 18th. Hunter could not then have escaped 
during the night of the i8th, and was too far ahead of Early to en- 
courage pursuit, though Early did wear his men out in an attempt 
to catch him. 

"General Lee had authorized Early to use his discretion as to 
which was best, to make a raid into Mar3dand or return to his army. 
Early decided that the raid was the proper thing to do, and marched 
to Staunton. Now while at Staunton he communicated with General 
Lee and I suppose a general plan was agreed upon ; however, it ap- 
pears that while in Staunton, Early decided to push down the Val- 
ley, play anew the old games of Stonewall Jackson, capture Sigel, 
Harper's Ferry, tear up the railroad track and make himself another 
Valley hero! But after clearing the Valley of the enemy on the 3rd 
of July he seemed to be dazed. General Lee, learning that he was 
hurrying off someivhere, cautioned him 'to be sure that he was 
ready,' but had Early gone on rapidly at once, he would have 
reached Washington on the 7th, before the works were manned, 
passing Frederick and Monocacy before Wallace got there, and he 
would have been able to have marched into Washington without a 
42 



658 JOHNNY RKB AND BILL-Y YANK 

Struggle. Had he done this, stampeding Lincohi and his Cabinet, 
and then burnt the city, Grant would have been called from Rich- 
mond and Lee with his army could have joined Early and great re- 
sults would or might have followed. Early was not general enough 
and did not see the opportunity which lay at his feet. It was well 
enough to send his cavalry along to the right and left, as he did, but 
there was no necessity of scattering as he did, and the 'Point Look- 
out' feature of the campaign, without the taking of Washington, 
was folly. 

"Early escaped from Washington just as Hunter escaped from 
him at Lynchburg, by getting a good long start of his pursuers. The 
levying of tribute on the towns of Hagerstown and Frederick and 
the burning of Chambersburg were unwise and barbarous, and de- 
moralizing to the army ; indeed the raid on Chambersburg was one 
of the greatest disasters attending his campaign — it roused the 
North, and the plunder brought off by his cavalry so incumbered it 
that it was easily vanquished by Averell in the Moorfield Valley and 
practically rendered hors de combat for the remainder of the cam- 
paign. 

"Early, in endeavoring to imitate Jackson, failed to ask himself 
the question, 'What would Jackson do 'if he were in my place? 
but tried to act and repeat the manoeuvres which Jackson had gone 
through with in previous campaigns, forgetting that the circum- 
stances had so changed as to give them a *mis-fit' in every case 
where he applied them. 

"When Sheridan came to the command of the opposing army, 
General Early disparaged his ability, underestimated his strength, 
scattered his own small army and marched and counter-marched upon 
his flanks in the most reckless manner, and when Sheridan attacked 
him on the 19th of September at Winchester, his command was so 
scattered that his splendid little army of veterans was overwhelmed 
in detail by superior numbers, and for the first time learned that 
their general was not equal to his responsibilities ; and from that 
day to the last disaster at Waynesboro they had no confidence in 
their commanding general. 

"The position of defense at Fisher's Hill was extremely faulty. 
Early massed his troops on the right where the position was strong 
and did not even attempt to strengthen or reinforce his left, which 
was turned without the least difficulty. At Cedar Creek he halted, 
I should say about 10 a. m., and remained inactive till run over by 
the returning enemy about 4 p. m. The little army had no confi- 



DISASTER AND DEFEAT IN THE VAELEY 659 

<ience in him and e\'en- man felt that he could better rely on his own 
judgment than on that of their commanding general. 

"Had Early been an able general he would have secured, during 
that long interval of inactivity from lo a. m. till 4 p. m., his retreat 
and his trophies. The army grew uneasy, the eneni}^ had time to 
leisurely examine and estimate Early's strength and position, and 
wlien Sheridan did return on us, that splendid little army, which 
had accomplished wonders in the morning under Gordon, fled in 
wild disorder in the afternoon under Early. It was all due to lack 
of confidence, not to the enemy's skill or numbers. 

"At Waynesboro, when Early posted his little command on the 
zvrong side of the river, the men knew that to stand meant capture 
and they ran for safety. Had they been posted on the right side of 
the river, and had Early not been in couiuiand, they would have 
beaten Sheridan off. 

"The Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, which 
Oen. Early took to the Valley, was without doubt the finest body of 
troops in that army. Thoroughly disciplined, ably commanded, and 
having followed Stonewall Jackson in all his triumphs, its esprit dc 
corps was superb. 

"General J. A. Early was a true patriot; he was energetic, vigi- 
lant and brave, hut he was nnniilitary and lacked enthusiasm, and 
was utterly unfit to command. Yours truly, 

"Thomas L. Rosser. 
"'Rugby Hall, 

"Albemarle Co., Virginia. 

"March, 1887." 

After demoralizing and wrecking the finest corps in the army, 
Early was dismissed from the force. General Lee, with his generous 
heart, knowing that the incalculable evil had been wrought, and was 
irremediable, used the gentlest language when depriving him of 
command. He said : 

"It is essential that we should have the cheerful and hearty sup- 
port of the people, and the full confidence of the soldiers, without 
which our efforts would be embarrassed and our means of resistance 
weakened. I have reluctantly arrived at the conclusion that you 
cannot command the united and willing co-operation which is so es- 
sential to success. Your reverses in the Valley, which the public 
and the army judge chiefly by the results, have, I fear, impaired 
your influence both with the people and with the soldiers. 



660 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

"I therefore feel constrained to endeavor to find a commander 
who would be more likely to develop the strength and resources of 
the country and inspire the soldiers with confidence. 

"I am respectfully, R. E. Lee." 

Men feel profound sympathy for a soldier who is unlucky or 
bowed down with misfortune, but any ofiicer who coolly and de- 
liberately charges his own soldiers with cowardice in order to save 
his own damaged reputation deserves nothing but contempt. Gen- 
eral Early proved the truth of the old saying, that ''It is an evil bird 
that fouls its own nest." 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

FAMINE. 

What a contrast between the rival Capitals of the North and the 
South in the autumn of 1864. 

From the pages of Harper's Weekly we saw the caricatures of the 
mushroom aristocracy. Great fortunes had been made by unscru- 
pulous army contractors ; the people were rolling in wealth. Man- 
ufacturers and farmers received treble the usual price for their prod- 
ucts. In the cities speculation ran riot as in the days when Law 
with "The Mississippi Bubble" made Paris a gaming hell. The fluc- 
tuations in gold, the unheard of price of cotton and tobacco, the huge 
earnings of the railways and water crafts made Wall Street the 
Mecca of every chevalier and speculator in the Old and New World. 
Fortunes were made in an hour, and the Autolycus of yesterday was 
the Midas of to-day. 

Riches easily won are lavishly spent, and such a display of cos- 
tumes and jewels, such show of entertainments and Lucullian ban- 
quets had never been since the days of the corrupt Roman Empire. 

In the South patriotism was in rags, and famine permitted no 
feasts except those of Barmacede. The Commander-in-Chief had 
meat on his table but twice a week ; cow beans and corn bread was 
the staple diet. The spectre of hunger hovered over the homes of 
the rich, while the poor just managed to escape actual starvation. 

I heard Captain W. E. Cameron, a splendid soldier of Mahone's 
brigade, and later on Governor of Virginia, giving an account of 
the visit of Bob Davis, the negro headquarters cook, to Richmond. 

Bob, it seems, had been raised on Jeff. Davis's Mississippi planta- 
tion and was inordinately proud of the quality of his owner. He 
always spoke of the Davis possessions as "ours." 

One day he asked General Davis, a nephew of the President, if 
he could go to Richmond. The General suggested in a bantering 
tone that Bob only wished to get clear of the lines so as to desert 
to the Yankees. Bob replied : 

"]Marse Joe, you know this nigger better than that; what I gwine 
for to jine that trash? I'm just as good a Rebel as you is, but I 
pintedly does hanker to get to Richmond. I ain't done see Marse 
Jeff, an old Miss, an' dem chilluns for gwine on two years." 



662 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

The General gave a pass to Bob to visit Richmond, good for ten 
days, and Bob was the happiest darky when he boarded the train at 
Orange Court House that could be found in the State of Virginia. 

Three days after, Bob unexpectedly returned, and to the General's 
question of why he hurried back, Bob replied : 

"I'll tell you what fotched me back. 'N I wouldn' bleeve what did 
fotch me 'cep'in' I done see it for myself. I stid thar at the greater 
house mos' three days an' Marse Jeff, 'n all un 'em w-as pow'ful glad 
to see me. 

"But," continued Bob, and his face grew more funereal and his 
manner more impressive, "fore God, Marse Joe, all them three days 
endurin' I was thar, I ain't see as much meat on Marse Jeff.'s table 
for all un 'em to eat as you got thar in that tin plate for you all's 
breakfus' this mornin'." And here Bob pointed wMth scornful finger 
toward the none-too-well-filled plates, and rose to his climax : 

"Gospil trufe, Marse Joe; 'twas sholy awful, an' I was jes' nach- 
ally shame' to stay thar an' eat up the little vittels what was all they 
had ; an' so I tell 'em my furlo' was up and make tracks fer camp. 
Marse Joe, does you reckon Marse Jeff, done got pore ? Dey lookin' 
mighty porely." 

Colonel Berkeley wrote : 

"The statement that General Lee's army was literally starving, 
not only for bread, but also for lead, may be received with incred- 
ulity by many, but nevertheless I w-ill show it to be true. A few 
days before the evacuation of Richmond an order was received at 
Pickett's division for Lieutenant-Colonel Berkeley, of the Eighth 
Virginia Regiment, with one of his own selection, to report to Gen- 
eral Lee's Chief of Ordnance for instructions. On my reporting to 
Colonel Baldwin, he informed me that General Lee wished me to 
proceed to the debatable land alternately occupied by the troops of 
Mosby and the Union cavalry, — the counties of Loudoun, Fairfax, 
and Prince William, — obtain all the lead of every description that 
1 possibly could and hire teams to haul it to Gordonsville. To im- 
press upon me the urgency of using the utmost dispatch. Col. Bald- 
win informed me that for some little time all the lead obtained for 
the army had been gotten by cutting down the trees on the battle- 
fields around Richmond, burning them in log heaps and taking the 
melted bullets they contained from the ashes." (From a printed 
letter by Edmund Berkeley, Waterfall. Va.) 

The winter of 1864-5 was an unusually severe one, and both man 
and beast serving in the army had a frightful time of it. 



FAMINE 663 

To say that the Army of Xorthern Virg-inia was hterally on the 
verge of starvation was telHng nothing but the woeful, pathetic 
truth. The rations had dwindled until they merely served to keep 
body and soul together. The soldiers were ahvays hungry, and they 
looked so, and acted so. For the first time the morale was shattered 
— their spirits broken. I have seen stalwart men sit and brood for 
hours. No more the light jest went round ; no more was heard the 
cheerful merriment ; the men who laughed in the smoke of battle 
and never flinched at any hardship, had become despondent, com- 
plaining and mutinous. They knew their power ; they did not fear 
the foe, and stood ready to advance with their muskets on a trail. 
They simply had lost heart because they had no faith in their Gov- 
ernment. They knew, none better, that during the first two years of 
the war Jeff Davis's Government could have provisioned Richmond 
wath food enough to stand a ten years' siege; and had any fore- 
thought been shown, Lee's army would have had full rations. 

When the soldiers found that the harder and the longer they 
fought, the poorer and hungrier they became, then it was that de- 
spair usurped the place of hope. The least intelligent private knew 
in his heart that unless the army was fed the end was not far off. 

The situation of the people who were inside the enemy's lines or 
who had been run over by its raiding parties was deplorable. 

Some of these, writing to their husbands or brothers of their pov- 
erty, caused a good many men to slip out of ranks without leave and 
return home to aid their suffering families. Nearly every soldier's 
letter was a wail ; nearly every message a plaint. 

The love and affection of the soldiery for their great commander 
in this dark hour was only truer and more abiding. They believed 
in Lee and knew that the blunders that were ruining the cause were 
not of his making. They knew, and it touched them deeply, that the 
General of the army had meat on his table only twice a week. They 
knew' also, that the Government at Richmond was w-illing to let 
them live on air and water. Their General, it is needless to say, 
felt sadly their woes. 

The following order, read out to the soldiers, made them more 
patient, though it did not relieve the pangs of starvation : 

"Headquarters, Army Northern Va., 

"November, 1864. 
"The General commanding considers it due to the army to state 
that the reductions of rations have been caused by circumstances be- 
yond the control of those charged with its support. The welfare and 



664 JOHNNY REB AND BII,LY YANK 

comfort of the army is the object of his most anxious sohcitiide, and 
no efforts have been spared to provide for its wants. It is to be 
hoped that the exertions now being made will render the necessity 
of short duration. 

"(Signed.) R. E. Lee, 

"General" 

The feelings of General Lee for his veterans were literally like 
those of a father for his children. The following incident will show 
this. I simply repeat the words of Colonel Chapman, who com- 
manded Mosby's battalion when that great partisan officer was ab- 
sent. 

In January in the winter of 1864 Colonel Chapman went to Pe- 
tersburg to see General Lee about moving a part of Mosby's com- 
mand for the remainder of the winter down near Kinsale, on the 
Potomac Ri\er. While the Colonel was talking to General Lee they 
were interrupted by the arrival of a special courier. 

The day was very cold. There had been rain for several days, but 
on this day the rain had fallen in torrents, evening was coming on 
and rations and clothing were very scarce. 

The courier was wretchedly clad. His suit was very much worn 
and was soaking wet, for he had ridden many miles that day in the 
drenching rain. General Lee drew a chair to a small wood fire and 
bade the man take a seat. When he had concluded his errand and 
was thoroughly warmed, he rose to go. General Lee glanced at him 
almost furtively, as if he felt that the soldier was ashamed to have 
his poor attire observed. 

"Are you returning at once to your general?" inquired General 
Lee. 

"Yes, sir.'' was the response, "if my horse has finished feeding." 

"It is still raining very hard," said General Lee; "have you no 
rubber coat?" 

"O, that don't matter. General," was the evasive but brave an- 
swer. 

"Then," said Colonel Chapman, "General Lee remained silent a 
moment, walked to the wall where his rubber coat hung, took it 
down and gave it to the soldier, who protested in vain against Gen- 
eral Lee's depriving himself. I tell you," continued Colonel Chap- 
man, "there were many generals in the army who would have risked 
their lives for their men, but Lee is the only man I ever saw part with 
a gum coat on a rainy day in the dead of winter, and that to a private 
who was not even immediately connected with Lee's command." 



FAMIXl' 665 

If the suffering of the infantry in the front was great, the condi- 
tion of the cavah"}' and artillery in front was injfinitely worse. As 
for the poor dumb animals, they presented a most doleful sight with 
their loose hides hanging over bony frames. The rations of corn 
and long food issued to the horses were not a third, nor a quarter 
enough, and they did not even get the beggarly allowance served out 
to them, for the troopers and artillerymen were so famished that 
they generally appropriated half of the corn rations of their horses 
for their o\vn use, and parched and dexoured it with the greatest 
relish. 

At last even these slim supplies of grain began to fail ; the horses' 
rations had gotten down to one tin cup of corn in the morning and 
one in the evening; no hay, straw, nor oats issued at all; only one 
quart of Indian corn, which would not have kept a man on his feet, 
much less a horse. Something had to be done, and quickly too. So, 
many cavalry brigades were almost dismounted for the winter, and 
the cavalrymen sent back if practicable into the neighborhood of 
their homes, to live upon the country. This step was a wise one, as 
it relieved the feeble Commissary Department of the great strain put 
upon it, and enabled it to accumulate a supply for the spring cam- 
paign. Besides it gave the soldiers a sadly-needed furlough. 

This step would have, in most armies, been a dangerous proceed- 
ing. — to relax all discipline for months and permit hundreds of the 
cavalry to wander over the country at their own free will. Unfet- 
tered freedom from iron discipline is apt to be followed by unbridled 
license by the soldiery, but there were but few Dugald Dalgettys in 
Lee's army and the furloughed soldiers committed no excesses ; they 
were among their own people and mostly in their own homes. 

Of course the whole cavalry was not sent away to recuperate. 
Only three companies out of each regiment, and they would return 
after a season and others would be sent away. 

No general advance could occur at this season and there was am- 
ple force to take care of any cavalry raid which might attempt a 
foray. 

Early in December the Black Horse received the welcome order 
to make its way into Fauquier, which was in the midst of the Union 
Army, and there, not only secure new mounts, but to scout and do 
all the damage to the enemv possible. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

AN OLD VIRGINIA FARMER IN 1864. 

Ill small squads, traveling by unfrequented roads, the Black: 
Horse made their way into Fauquier without being discovered. 
Scattering through the country among families and friends, each 
man was cautioned to be ready at any moment, day or night, to obey 
any summons from their officers. All horses were kept in the 
depths of the woods, as stables were considered too dangerous 
in those times. 

I was billeted for Mr. Martin's, the home of the celebrated 
Martins, of the Black Horse. 

This snug little home, sitting back from the main road, some 
six miles north of Warrenton, furnished three soldiers whose 
skill and gallantry made their name a household word among the 
cavalry corps. Robert, the eldest, was the orderly sergeant of the 
Black Horse, and he was to the enemy's scouts a rankling thorn. 

No man ever lived, better fitted to back a friend or face a foe ; 
he was the beau ideal of a cavaliyman; tall, athletic, mus- 
cular, with pluck written in every line of his strongly marked 
face. He had certainly captured more of the enemy's cavalry 
than any other man in the army. He had just received a superb 
rifle sent by an English nobleman to be presented to the bravest 
man in Lee's army. 

Of course it was impossible among so many of the bravest 
soldiers on earth to choose one preeminently daring. Lieuten- 
ant Minor, of the C. S. Navy, who was charged with the mission, 
forwarded the weapon to Colonel Randolph with instructions. 
After a good deal of inquiry the Colonel presented the English 
heavy-bore to Sergeant Martin as the man who had committed 
the most daring deeds. 

This decision caused no heart-burnings in the Black Horse, 
as Bob Martin was the acknowledged leader in all enterprises 
which savored of fearful risk or dangerous undertaking. 

Bob Martin ought to have lived in the days of the Crusades. He 
would have made an ideal Sparticus, or a Jack Cade, for he was a 
born gladiator: six feet one inch in height, weighing about i8o 
pounds, with not an ounce of superfluous flesh, it was no wonder 
he was the acknowledged leader among the daring men of the 




SERGEANT BOB MARTIN OF THE BLACK HORSE. 



Facing' pag^e oini 



AN OLD VIRGINIA FARMER IN 1 864 66/ 

Black Horse. In personal strength he was a phenomenon, and he 
was as quick and active as a panther. He had a good, honest coun- 
tenance ; his eyes were gray, and his firm mouth and chin showed 
the character of the man. In action he had the sternest face I ever 
saw, and his eyes had within them a baleful glitter that was terrify- 
ing. As a partisan he was at his best. 

In the autumn of 1862, when riding along an obscure road in 
Fauquier County, he encountered six of the enemy, and in the fight 
that ensued he wounded two and captured two and came out un- 
scathed. His deeds would fill pages. On one occasion, in 1863, he 
visited his home and found there two of his comrades of the Black 
Horse. Despite his better judgment, Sergeant Martni remained 
with them in the house all night. That evening a negro servant of 
the Martin household slipped over to Casanova, about a mile distant, 
and informed the Federal General Torbett of the prize within easy 
grasp. Just after midnight the house was surrounded by a battal- 
ion of Yankee cavalry, and the ofiicer, going to the door, summoned 
all the inmates to appear. Two of the Rebs gave themselves up, but 
Bob Martin, with a pistol in each hand, sprang through a window 
right in the midst of his enemies, and there was some lively shoot- 
ing, but he got away unharmed. 

He was not only fearless, but his nerve never failed, and in mo- 
ments of deadliest peril he kept his wits about him ; his mind and 
body moved in unison, with the quickness of the lightning's flash, 
and it was this intuitive action that saved him time and time again. 
A man madly, blindly brave, placed in position of deadly menace 
and peril where Martin escaped, would have met death many times. 
It was not Bob's luck, but his doing the right thing at the right 
time that saved him. He was the only trooper in the Black Horse 
who. when in close C[uarters, preferred the sabre to the pistol ; and 
come to think of it, I never met or heard of any cavalryman except 
the German Colonel von Borcke, Stuart's personal friend, who did. 
• In the charge at Brandy Station, in June, 1864, Sergeant Martin 
rode a couple of lengths in advance, and literally hewed his way 
with his sabre through the opposing force. It was for a time a 
surging, intermingled mass of men, who feared to use their pistols 
unless the muzzles were jammed against the enemy's body, and it 
was in that mob that Bob Martin so distinguished himself that his 
deeds were talked of around every camp-fire in the cavalry. 

Withal, there was not a touch of the desperado about Bob Mar- 
tin. Outside of battle he was a reserved, quiet man, unobtrusive 



668 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

and reticent; he was obliging and wholly generous, and he inher- 
ited from his father his honesty and pride. 

Bob Martin, by all laws, should have been the captain of the 
Black Horse, and every trooper, had he been privileged, would have 
voted him that honor. That such a born soldier should have gone 
through the war in the ranks is but one of the numberless cases of 
the incompetency of the Confederate Government. 

Dick Martin, the second brother, was second to none in the 
Black Horse for courage and nerve. It was he who had the 
proud distinction of being chosen by Jackson at Harper's Ferry 
to carry to Lee the tidings of its surrender. It was he whom 
Lee chose to bear his dispatches to Jackson, urging him to 
effect a junction at Sharpsburg. Dick performed his mission 
well ; but he killed his thoroughbred horse in doing so. 

George, or as he was called, "Josh," was the youngest and a 
born soldier. He was a blooded game-cock with the gaffies on, 
and though of sweet disposition and gentle manners, in action 
he was as dangerous as a "Sans Coulette in an emute" holding a 
barricade against the Municipal guard. He killed Captain Meigs 
in a duel to the death in the Valley, but more of that later. 

The father, old Mr. John Martin, was, taking him all in all, 
one of the noblest types of manhood I ever met ; I never ex- 
pect to look upon his like again. A nature so true, so noble, so 
honest that he impressed all who met him as being a man of 
strong individuality. By those who knew him intimately he was 
admired for his grandeur of character and loved for his big. gen- 
erous heart. He was my ideal of a patriot, and when with him I 
always thought of Cincinnatus. the noblest Roman of them all. 

Mr. Martin loved his State and the cause she had espoused 
with all the might of his strong nature, and with a singleness 
of purpose which is rarely met with ; he had no thought which 
was not connected with the welfare of his State. He was a large 
landed proprietor, the possessor of two spacious farms lying near 
Warrenton Junction. 

At the outbreak of the war he was a man of means and owed 
no man a dollar. When the tide of conflict surged to his doors 
he threw them wide open and gave everything he had to the 
soldiers and held absolutely nothing back. His house was the 
rendezvous for all the Black Horsemen in the vicinity. Any 
straying scout applying for shelter was naturally directed to the 
Martins ; their house w^as always full ; thousands and thousands 
of soldiers were fed there during the four years of warfare, nor 



AN OLD VIRGINIA FARMER IN 1864 669 

was there ever a straggling Northern soldier turned from his 
door. 

He had a stout heart, that old white-haired gentleman, stand- 
ing calmly by and watching the destruction of his crops, the 
capturing of his stock, the dismantling or burning of his fences, 
stables and barns and the general pillaging of his estates by his foes, 
without a murmur. He seemed endowed with a sublime philosophy. 
He commenced life as a poor man and had slowly and patiently, in 
a half-century of incessant toil, made himself and family comfort- 
able, and now with the calmness of a Stoic he stood by and saw the 
labors of a long life destroyed. 

He made no threat, no plaint, nor indulged in any repinings. 
He was the type of many Virginia planters and farmers too old to 
shoulder a musket. 

He was proud of his three sons, and they revered the "old 
man." Nothing pleased Mr. Martin so much as to get his house 
filled with the "Cracks" of the Black Horse and listen to their 
tales of "Derring Do." 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

HOW CAPTAIN JOHN N. MEiGS WAS KILLED. 

The youngest son of our host took no part in the festivities 
of Christmastime, but worn and pale moved about the room 
with slow, uncertain steps. He had had a duel a la mort a short 
time before and escaped with his life by a miracle, while his antag- 
onist fell by his hand. 

General Sheridan sent the following telegram to Grant, dated 
October 7th, 1864. 

"Lieutenant John R. Meigs, my engineer officer, was mur- 
dered beyond Harrisonburg near Dayton. For this atrocious 
act all houses within the area of five miles were burned." 

Now I deem it justice, not only to the gallant scout who shot 
him, but also to remove the stain of cowardly murder from the 
reputation of the Black Horse, to narrate here the true statement of 
the skirmish in which Captain Meigs, by the fortunes of war, lost 
his life. I obtained these facts from the lips of those concerned in 
the affair within a month after it occurred ; the account is true, for 
they were all gentlemen in the highest sense of the term, whose ver- 
acity has never yet been questioned. 

In the month of October, '64, Wickham's cavalry brigade lay 
encamped in the Valley. Both of the opposing armies lay on 
their arms watching each other. 

Sheridan's army was near Harrisonburg: his topographical 
engineers were engaged in surveying and exploring the country 
and preparing a map of the Valley for the use of Sheridan, who. 
even then, was perfecting his plan for an onward movement 
toward Staunton. 

It being exceedingly desirable that the movements and inten- 
tions of the enemy should be unmasked. General Wickham de- 
termined to send a squad of his best scouts within the enemy's 
lines to collect all the information possible. 

Campbell and Martin, of the Black Horse, and Frank Schafer, 
a Valley man, were detailed for the dangerous undertaking. The 
three, upon receipt of their orders, immediately set about pre- 
paring for their perilous exploit. Their horses were groomed, 
fed and examined and newly shod — this being most carefully done, 
for on the heels of the horse haners the life of the scout. 



I 



now CAPTAIN JOHN N. MEiGS WAS KILI^KD 6/1 

The three left camp on the seventh of October, and were soon 
■outside the videttes of our own army ; then they proceeded with 
more caution, having learned the exact location of the enemy's 
picket posts from the citizens. They struck for the woods, and 
following the by-paths easily evaded the Yankee outposts and 
soon were safely within their lines, and having reached the turn- 
pike, they rode slowly along, keeping every sense on the alert. 
for they were now close by the camps of their foes. 

A light drizzling rain had begun to fall and each had thrown 
over his shoulders, for protection against the weather and not 
for any purpose of disguise, a common gum blanket or oilcloth, 
which concealed their gray uniforms. 

Perceiving a house close by the road, some distance off, they 
rode on in its direction, intending to stop and inquire for in- 
formation. As they neared the dwelling, they observed three 
men behind them. One in the lead was probably an officer; all 
were galloping their horses as if for the purpose of overtaking 
them. 

Those three men were Captain Meigs, of the Topographical 
•Corps, and his two orderlies, probably returning from a survey. 

Campbell, who was leader, turned to his comrades and observed : 

"Boys, here come three Yankees. Ride along quietly, and as 
they get abreast, each of you will pick his man and take him 
prisoner: now be certain that no two choose the same fellow.'" 

They quietly drew their Colt's revolvers and held them concealed 
beneath the oilcloths. 

Captain Meigs and his orderlies were but a few yards behind, 
and would in a moment l>e alongside. They apparently were 
ignorant of the character of the scouts and thought them merely 
a squad of their own cavalrymen. They were woefully deceived, 
for as they were opposite, the three Southerners, suddenly wheel- 
ing their horses, confronted them, and each selecting his man. 
brought his pistol to bear full on him, and in tones of deadly 
menace ordered them to surrender. The two orderlies threw 
up their hands at once and handed their arms to their captors, 
Campbell and Schafer. 

Captain Meigs was of sterner stuff, his presence of mind per- 
fect. He pretended to comply, drew his pistol and cocked it, his 
long cape concealing the manoeuvre. His antagonist, thinking he 
Avas unbuckling his belt, withheld his fire, but kept his Colt's levelled 
at his bosom. 

"I never dreamt for a moment." said Martin when telling the 



67-2 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

tale, "that he intended firing, for the Captain cried out in a 
lirad voice, 'Don't shoot, I surrender !' " 

Captain Meigs, having drawn and cocked his weapon quickly 
but quietly, brought the muzzle toward Martin. Upon the sec- 
ond order to surrender, Meigs pressed the trigger and fired. 
The ball struck Martin fairly in the body and he swayed and 
reeled in his saddle; but only for a moment. With clenched 
teeth and eyes blazing with rage, the grim Black Horseman's 
hand grasped his pistol with a furious grip, and his fingers touched 
the fateful piece of steel ; the hammer fell and the report rang 
cut sharp and clear, and Captain John Meigs fell headlong to 
the ground with a bullet through his heart. 

The deed was done. With a fierce joy the stricken man saw 
the deadly bullet do its work and then a mist came over his 
eyes, his nerveless hand dropped his trusty weapon, and in low, 
faint tones he told Campbell he was shot. His comrade sprang 
to his side, and as he did so his prisoner drove his spurs into his 
horse's flank and bounded ofT. Campbell fired and missed, but 
Schafer shattered his arm as he passed him, and held on to his 
own prisoner. 

Taking Martin from his horse, Campbell made a hasty exam- 
ination of the wound and to his unprofessional eye it seemed 
mortal. The ball entering a few inches below the left breast had 
come out near the vertebrae. Settling the wounded scout in 
the saddle and passing his arm around the swaying form, Camp- 
bell and his party moved off as rapidly as they could, carrying 
with them the slain officer's horse and the prisoner that Schafer 
had captured. 

They did not stop to examine the body of their dead enemy. 
Had they done so, a valuable prize in the shape of documents, 
olificial papers and surveys would have rewarded tliem. Their 
haste was pressing; the escaped prisoner would in a few minutes 
give the alarm and the whole county would soon be swarming 
with blue-coats rabid with the desire for vengeance. If caught 
they feared a short shift and equally short rope would be accorded 
them. 

On they hurried, and in a few hours reached the thickly wooded 
region, where, feeling safe, they halted at the first house, and carry- 
ing in their wounded comrade, placed him in bed and sent for a 
country doctor. 

The physician came, a newly fledged M. D., who, after examining 



HOW CAPTAIN JOHN N. MEIGS WAS KILLED 673 

the wound, with a look of intense wisdom finally shook his head 
and pronounced it absolutely fatal. 

Campbell, distrusting his knowledge, hurried him oft* and sent 
for another, an old gentleman whose experience in gunshot wounds 
was more extensive. His examination was short and entirely satis- 
factory. 

"The bullet," he said, has touched no vital part, but the variation 
of only one-eighth of an inch and the vertebrae would have been 
shattered." 

This was one of the seemingly miraculous cases which happen 
at rare intervals. Not one man in a hundred shot with the muzzle 
of the pistol close to his body would survive, but Fortes fortuna 
fai'ct, and the gallant scout in a few weeks recovered sufficiently to 
l)e taken home. 

Such was the manner in which Captain Meigs was killed. If 
any one can see anything cowardly or treacherous in his death, 
he must possess fine sensibilities; it was as fair and as tough a 
fight as ever occurred ; it was Greek met Greek. Both an- 
tagonists were shot, and yet because one recovered and the other 
did not, the charge was murder. 

Then ensued a piteous scene in that fatal five-mile square. 
When engaged in their peaceful avocations at home, a battalion 
of Federals rode up and informed the sires and matrons that they 
had orders to burn their homes, and would give them an hour to 
vacate the premises. There were passionate pleadings, and the 
proudest of Virginia ladies bowed themselves in supplication, 
not only for their own sake, but for their poor, helpless children. 
All in vain ! the fiat had gone forth ! the firing parties had no 
option in the matter, their duty as soldiers was but to obey. 

At last, when the forks of flame and volumes of smoke were 
seen bursting from the windows and doors, the saddened in- 
mates would stagger off, bearing in their arms those little ones 
who through God's mercy were too young to feel the terrors 
of their situation ; then, blinded with tears, their hearts bursting 
with grief, their brains maddened by despair, the poor family 
would wander off to some neighbor's house, there to watch and 
pray for help ; for it was all that was left them to do. 

Many of Sheridan's troopers wept like children when they obeyed 
that order, and gave the unfortunates their blankets, and one, dis- 
mounting, presented a lady with his horse and went his way on foot. 

43 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

A SCOUTING ADVENTURE. 

The next morning was Christmas day, and though one of the 
principal elements that mark that anniversary, '"the giving and 
receiving of gifts," was omitted, yet our congratulations were 
none the less sincere for that. Beaming faces and kind words were 
met with on every side, and at Warrenton even the speculators 
and extortioners, who had remained out of the army to make 
money, in the fulness of their hearts filled our canteens with the 
best of blockade whiskey — a piece of generosity they were never 
k-nown to repeat. 

About ten o'clock at night the door opened and a scout entered, 
splashed with mud from head to foot. He had galloped from War- 
renton and brought news that a brigade of Yankee cavalry under 
General Merritt had occupied the village a short time after our de- 
parture, and having placed a strong picket force had encamped for 
the night. 

A sociable consultation was held, and like all conventions there 
was diversity of opinions ; one-half were in favor of making a night 
attack on the picket force, and the other, favoring a more cautious 
policy, advised waiting until next day and then operate in their rear 
as best we could. 

Wooden, the scout who brought us the information, said, how- 
ever, the pickets w'ere unusually large, with a heavy reserve, and 
it would be folly for so small a party to attack them. Sergeant 
Martin agreed in this and his decision settled the matter. 

After an early breakfast we began to make preparations for 
the expected foray. We fired off our pistols and reloaded them 
carefully, examined our horses, and having placed everything in 
order, mounted, and under the leadership of Sergeant Bob Martin 
set out for Warrenton. 

Reaching the suburbs of that village and seeing the enemy's 
pickets thrown out on the heights, the sergeant dispatched 
Wooden and myself to reconnoitre and return with such infor- 
mation as we could obtain. 

Spurring forward I left Wooden behind and perceived a man 
with a blue overcoat galloping to meet me. 

The rapid gait soon brought me close up, and raising myself 



A SCOUTING ADVENTURE 6/5 

in the stirrups, intending to try the effect of a snap shot, had 
cocked my revolver, when a familiar voice hailed me and I found 
it was a citizen friend just from Warrenton. He inform.ed me 
that the cavalry brigade had struck camp and their rear-guard 
was just passing through town on the retreat. 

Keeping on I reached the other side of the village before I 
saw anything; then just before me was a horseman dressed in 
blue, rushing down the hill at full speed. Thinking he was one 
of the rear-guard, I ordered him to halt, but he still kept on. A 
regular scrub race ensued and it was neck or nothing down the 
steep, frozen road. I had nearly arrived at the bottom in safety, 
when in attempting to jump a broad ditch my horse slipped and 
down he went headlong, and then half recovering himself and still 
preserving the impetus, slid on his knees on the icy turnpike to 
the bottom of the hill. Just then the man I was pursuing 
dropped his hat and dismounted to get it; as he did so I spurred 
my horse to his feet, and reached the stranger before he could 
mount. Presenting a cocked revolver at his breast I ordered him 
to surrender. 

He cried out, "Don't shoot, I'm a Reb!" 

"Open your overcoat and let me see your jacket ; but for your 
life don't touch your pistol." 

He obeyed, and I saw that his clothes were gray. 

Apologizing for the trouble I had given him we rode on 
amicably together. 

His name was Fred Hopkins, from Norfolk, Virginia, and he 
was one of the most gallant members of Mosby's famous bat- 
talion ; nothing but his coolness prevented one of us being shot. 

We soon caught up with a large party of our scouts, and just 
ahead was the Union rear-guard, going in a fast canter and hold- 
ing well together. I found to my grief that I could not keep up 
with the crowd, as my horse was so lame he could scarcely limp 
along. 

Dismounting, I examined him and discovered that in his fall 
he had cut his knee badly. My scouting w-as over for that day. 
Seeing a good horse which the enemy had abandoned on the side 
of the road, I slipped a halter over his head, and taking both horses 
by the bridles, struck off on foot from the road, intending to find 
some farm-house where I could leave the lame horse, and make my 
way back to the Martins. A walk of about a mile brought me to the 
house of Mr. Johnson. Tying my horses to the fence, I knocked at 
the door, and hardly had I been seated five minutes before a young 



676 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

girl rushed in, her face blanched and her voice trembling with ex- 
citement, 

"I don't know who you are, but if you are a Southern soldier, 
run for your life, for the Yankees are all around our house and 
have just taken your horses. • 

I started up, and springing to a closet opposite asked her to 
conceal me within. 

"No," she cried in an agony of distress, "they will certainly 
find you ; try to reach the wood! Go, go! For God's sake go!" 

I literally bounded to the front door, opened it and was on 
the porch in a second. 

The woods were fully a hundred yards away, with two fences 
to cross before I could gain the friendly shelter. I had no time 
to lose, for about twenty paces from the house was a large squad 
of blue-coats. I made a dash for liberty, and in a trice was over 
the first fence and legging it for the woods. 

Between the house and the fence was a deep ditch, and in my 
blind haste I, like my horse a few hours before, stumbled and 
fell headlong ; recovering my breath I raised my head and looked 
around. The Yankees had dismounted and were assembled at 
the house, and several had their carbines levelled at me. Ducking 
my head I turned and gazed in the direction of the woods. A 
cavalryman on horseback, with a pipe in his mouth, had headed 
me off from that point, but to reach the forest was my only chance 
of safety, so I made up my mind to risk it. 

Rising suddenly I made straight for him. He dropped his 
reins on his horse's neck and coolly waited for me. A tew hur- 
ried jumps and we were face to face. 

There was a Virginia snake fence between us ; we looked 
squarely in each other's eyes. The cavalryman cocked his car- 
bine with a sudden movement and ordered me to surrender. I 
don't remember anything; but I tugged and pulled at my pistol 
which hung in my holster. His comrades who had followed me 
down the hill now stopped and were gazing at the tragedy enact- 
ing before them. 

One cried out, "Kill the damn Rebel. Rouzie; don't take him 
prisoner. Kill him, kill him!" 

With his carbine levelled full at my breast he fired. In that 
brief moment the sky seemed to reel ; I involuntarily closed my 
eyes. 

Now there are some noises which strike gratefully upon the 



A SCOUTING ADVENTURE 677 

t;ar, but I question if there is a sweeter sound on earth, one so 
unutterably welcome as the snapping of a cap in the loaded 
gun ; had his carbine been discharged, this book had never been 
written. As the hammer of his carbine fell I extricated my pistol 
arid jumped over the fence. The trooper could have escaped by 
riding off, but he was made of different metal; he dismounted, 
but was a second too late, for before he could draw I had his 
horse by the bridle and my pistol pressing against his bosom. 

"Don't shoot; don't shoot. I surrender!" 

"Unbuckle your arms then." 

Instead of doing so, he remained motionless. Suspecting 
some treachery I glanced hastily over my shoulder and saw two 
of his comrades not ten feet away from me, with their guns 
cocked and at ready. They were holding fire, fearing to shoot 
their companion. I detected my adversary's right hand grasp- 
ing the handle of his revolver. It was a touch and go; I pulled 
trigger. Even now I can see him plainly as he stood before me, 
a tall, fine-looking fellow of about six feet, with ruddy cheeks and 
0} es which blazed defiance. 

The report of the pistol sounded clear. He did not move an 
inch but his face assumed a look of intense bewilderment and he 
opened and closed his eyes several times. 

I drew back the hammer of the revolver and was just about to 
fire again, when slowly he sank to his knees. 

His comrades lost their presence of mind and cried out, 
*'Rouzie 's shot!" and ran back to the house without shooting me, 
which they could easily have done. 

Mounting the fallen man's horse, and telling its owner to lie 
tliere until I came back, I dashed into the woods. When I 
reached cover I halted and began to think. A feeling of shame 
took possession of me, that I had run off and left the poor citi- 
zen to bear all the blame of the trooper's hurt. They might burn 
his house in retaliation; then, too, there were my horses. 

It was too bad ! The Black Horse would rig me unmercifully. 

I rode back toward the house and played off an old trick 
connnon enough among our scouts. The Yankee troopers were 
standing in a body near the house, apparently deliberating upon 
what course to pursue ; on perceiving me, they mounted their 
horses. Riding up I fired my pistol in the air, and shouting in 
a stentorian voice ; "Charge them ! Black Horse !'' and waving 
my hat I rushed up to them. 

If thev would not run, I would take care to turn tail and fly 



678 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

back to the woods. But the ruse succeeded perfectly. They 
wheeled and fled, dropping in their haste my two horses, which 
they w^ere leading off by the bridles, and away they went, never 
turning their heads to see whether there was a whole company or 
one man after them. 

Of the nine that constituted the party, I believe I could have 
captured a couple more horses, for they were in a strange place 
and doubtless thought a whole squadron of rangers were at their 
heels ; but my Yankee horse w^ould not jump the fence ; in vain 
I urged and spurred him — he would not make the attempt and 
they rode off unmolested. 

The horse that had belonged to Rouzie was a good one, with 
a new military saddle and bridle. I had no cause to be dissatis- 
fied with the day's work — I was alive and free. 

After all, there is nothing like luck ; had not my antagonist's 
carbine missed fire, I would have been in his place. 

Mounting my captured horse, I led the other two to a farm- 
house near by and left them with the ow-ner, whilst from the 
Johnson family I learned all about the small raiding party I had 
encountered. 

There w^ere ten men altogether, and they had slipped off from 
the main body against the express order of the general com- 
manding, with the intention of going from house to house and 
robbing its inmates, and then to rejoin the regiment unperceived, 
with the plunder they had secured. 

They had completely gutted the house near by, belonging to 
Mr. Francis, who told me next day that every trunk had been 
broken open, every closet and drawer ransacked and everything 
that was valuable was carried off, and that Rouzie, my antagonist, 
was the leader of the band. His conduct was atrocious, cursing 
and threatening even the wife and daughter of Mr. Francis. 

Just as this blue-coat was leaving he ordered the farmer to 
light his pipe for him, accompanying the request with a rough 
joke. 

They had also robbed Mr. Chichester, and had come to Mr. 
Johnson's for the same purpose, when I was fortunate enough to 
frighten them away. 

I returned to Mr. Martin's that night and found all my com- 
rades assembled. 

Sergeant Martin deemed it unwise to follow up the pursuit; 
the roads were very muddy and the Union rear-guards active and 
vigilant. 




"JOSH" MARTIN OF THE BLACK HORSE. 



A SCOUTING adventure; 679 

A short time after the war ended, the Fourteenth New York In- 
fantry was garrisoning Warrenton, Virginia, under the command 
of as fine a soldier as ever led brave men ; his name was Colonel 
Sumner. I was staying there at the time, and was arrested and 
tried by court martial. 

The officers of the court said they had heard from the negroes 
that I had bushwhacked Sergeant Rowzie, or Rouzie, of the 
Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry. 

After hearing the evidence of the Johnson family I was ac- 
quitted instantly, every officer of the tribunal shaking hands 
with me, saying that the "boot fitted the other foot," and I was 
exceedingly lucky to get off as I did ; I thought so too. 

I dined with Colonel Sumner that day at his special request. 



CHAPTER XL. 

SHADOWS. 

The weather during January and February, 1865 was frightful 
and neither army moved a peg; even the cavalry, as a general 
thing, lay snug in their winter quarters. 

Only two cavalry commanders kept in the saddle during this 
inclement weather, and the troopers suffered terribly from ex- 
posure. Mosby, the greatest partisan leader the modern world 
has produced, made his daring attacks despite the snow, sleet, 
mud and rain. He kept over thirty thousand of his foe busy 
guarding the railroads, frontier towns and their subsistence 
trains. 

In the Valley General Rosser. with his celebrated Laurel Bri- 
gade, made several advance movements and dashing raids, all of 
which met with great success. 

This officer, but thirty years old, was rapidly pushing to the 
front as the foremost cavalry general in the Army of Northern 
Virginia. His men idolized him, and the "Old Laurel Brigade" 
had never met with a square defeat under his leadership. 

The "Black Horse" were not idle; they individually made cap- 
tures every day, and squads of prisoners were sent under strong 
guards every week by the underground grapevine route to 
Orange Court House. 

Sergeant Martin planned a raid upon a Yankee camp with 
some score of men, and met with a decided defeat, being himself 
wounded. 

Our sergeant was the Paris of the company ; invulnerable 
even in his heel, for though in the very thickest of every battle, 
and way in the advance of every charge, yet neither shell, bullet, 
nor grape ever touched him. But the charm was broken at last, 
and this bullet with its billet laid him up for several weeks. 

In the latter part of February I met with a painful accident. 
On a solitary scout I ran right into a Yankee scouting party 
several hundred strong. I turned my mare as quick as a flash 
upon her heels, drove the spurs into her flanks and struck for the 
woods. 

Such miserable firing was never seen before. The cracking 
of the pistol shots of my pursuers sounded like the noise made 



SHADOWS 68 1 

by a drummer beating the "rat-a-plan" on the sides of his instru- 
ment; but not one harmed me, only several dusted my uniform. 

1 reached the pine woods in safety, and in running through at 
full speed my newly cured leg struck against a tree with such 
force as to reopen the old wound. I did not feel it much then, 
but after getting clear of the chase I felt faint, and found my 
boot nearly filled with blood. Keeping in the saddle only by an 
effort of will, 1 reached a house and found that I was badly hurt. 

In a few days 1 was able to hobble around on crutches, and 
started for Richmond to see Dr. Garnett. 

It took me nearly a week to reach there, for I was stopped a 
dozen times in the "Debatable Land," and came within an ace of 
being shot by a scout, who insisted on my going some five miles 
out of the way to prove my identity. At Gordonsville I had to 
lay over a day before i could get my passport, and thinking I 
could reach Richmond quicker by rail, I left my mare with a 
comrade who was en route to Richmond, to take with him. De- 
luded mortal that I was, not to know that a sure-footed steed 
was a safer mode of traveling than a Confederate railroad. 

It took me exactly forty-eight hours to travel on the cars to 
Richmond; the rails were nearly worn out, and the speed never 
exceeded five miles an hour, with frequent stops of five min- 
utes to five hours in duration. 

The ancient, ramshackly cars reached the "City of Seven 
Hills" late in the evening, and I made at once for an eating-house 
and soon was sitting at ease in the "290," a celebrated restaurant 
named after the privateer Alabama, and opposite the Spotts- 
wood Hotel. I had one hundred dollars in my pocket; I called 
for a cocktail, a porter-house steak, the last one (the waiter said) 
there was in the house, a cup of cofTee and a cigar. I handed 
the "century" to the cashier, who returned me five dollars change, 
which I gave to the darky who opened the door for me. Just 
ninety-five dollars for a plain meal; exactly six months' pay. I 
congratulated myself, howe\er. for the same meal might cost two 
hundred dollars the next day. Quien sabef 

The finances were in a deplorable condition, and money was 
decidedly "loose" and hardly worth the carrying. 

The Confederate financiers made a mistake in the beginning. 
They should have recognized from the first that the struggle was 
going to be a win-or-perish affair, and they should have issued 
currency every dollar of which the Confederate Government 
was to redeem, and every State Government should have pledged 



682 JOHNNY REB AND BII^LY YANK 

its solemn faith on the back of the note, that come what may the 
paper should be liquidated. All States should have their share in 
every dollar, approximated by the census of i860, as to the re- 
spective value of assessed property. 

All new States that should afterwards join the Confederacy 
would of course share the burdens in the same ratio. In this 
way the Confederate currency would have been kept up to par or 
nearly so. 

Our money, in truth, was about equal in value to the "as- 
signats" issued by the Tribunal in Paris in those bloody days of 
'95, when, as Victor Hugo tells us, in the Rue du Temple an as- 
signat of a hundred francs fell to the ground and every passerby 
looked at it. shrugged his shoulders and said, ''it is not wortli 
the picking up." 

Food certainly was scarce around Richmond, even among the 
better classes. "How to live" was a hard problem to solve. 
The only meat, now that hog-killing was in season, was the flesh 
of swine, and the Jews of Richmond had to choose between their 
religion and their stomachs. 

Among the poorer classes of the city the suffering was heart- 
rending. The women and children were only half clad, and 
many of them lived on dried apples and sorghum. It was a com- 
mon saying among our people that they would eat dried apples 
for breakfast, drink warm water for dinner, and swell for supper. 

At last the destitution of the poor reached such a stage that 
the Government was forced to issue rations to them out of its 
own scanty store. 

It was feeding the women and reducing the rations of the sol- 
diers. Our currency, though nearly worthless, was abundant. 
Five dollars was the lowest denomination used, and it paid for a 
drink or settled with the bootblack. Everybody had plenty. 
Everybody loaned it without security. No one hoarded it. If 
one were a soldier and had friends in Richmond he could borrow 
a pocketful within an hour. Yet our soldiers were paid at the 
rates of eleven dollars and fifteen dollars a month, which amount 
would just buy one pound of sugar or one piece of soap. Indeed, 
the Confederate soldier had gotten down to hardpan at last. He 
was almost as destitute of clothes as a Piute Indian. He had 
learned to live on a pocketful of bran a da}^ and the memory of 
the feasts he had enjoyed in days gone by. A little more prac- 
tice and he would have come down to water and air, and if he 
could keep fat on that he would be an ideal soldier and could 
laugh starvation to scorn. 



SHADOWS 683 

The once gay Capital of the Southern Confederacy was sadly 
changed. The shadow of an overwhelming doom was already 
brooding over the most unconquerable of Southern towns. 

It left its imprint on the hearts of young and old alike. The 
joyous confidence was all gone ; dreams of our victorious le- 
gions thundering at the gates of the Northern cities had van- 
ished ; the hope of a peace won by our arms was mingled with 
doubts ; famine stalked abroad with her skeleton form and stared 
with horrifying eyes into the gaunt faces of the starving people. 
The country around Richmond was so barren that the farmer as a 
general thing ceased to come to the market, and the stalls were 
nearly empty. 

A dinner party was given by one of the most prominent Rich- 
monders, who determined to present to his guests a banquet which 
would live long in their memory. 

It seems his brother, who lived in the south-side, sent him half a 
dozen undressed hogs, fat and fair to look upon. 

Sending half of the meat to the soldiers in the trenches, this gen- 
tleman gave a "swell" dinner composed of these hogs; and this is 

the menu : 

SOUP 

Pig's Tail 

BOILED 

Bacon and Poke-greens 

ROAST 

Hog Sirloin 

Hog's Jowl stuffed with Rice 

VEGETABLES 

Rice and Cow Beans 

ENTREES 

Hog's Brains a la mode 

Spare Ribs 

Sides new, Confederate style 

Hog's Liver, hashed 

SIDE DISHES 

Hog's Kidneys with Beans a la Paris 

Pig's Feet soused 

Hog Tripe, fried in Pea Meal Butter 

' Hog's Back, Virginia style 

DESSERT 

White Oak Acorns, washed 

Sorghum Pies 

Hickory Nuts 

Blackberry Tarts 

Jellies 

Pig's Feet 

LIQUORS 

Persimmon Beer 

Cider 

James River Water, Vintage before the Flood 

Rye Coffee and Sorghum 

Pipes. 



684 JOHNNY REB AND BILlvV YANK 

1 

The war seemed to change the very nature of our women. Their 
spirit grew more defiant and bitter as the danger became more men- 
acing. The men in the trenches might lose heart from famine, but 
the daughters of that fire-encircled city urged the soldiers never to 
yield as long as they had a finger to pull a trigger. 

A lady sent a communication to the Richtnond Enquirer, urging 
€very man in town to go to the front, and declared that the women 
would garrison the forts and guard the city. Indeed, many women 
in the lower class of life offered themselves as sentinels and some 
were accepted. I remember gazing with open-mouthed wonder at a 
buxom female, with belt and cartridge-box around her ample waist, 
walking her beat in front of a Government store-house. She paced 
lip and down with the steadiness of a veteran. 

About this time there appeared chalked or painted on the walls, in 
the most mysterious manner, an inscription full of awful portent ; 
two words only, "Vae Victis :" Woe to be Conquered. 

At first it attracted little attention, but as the dread writing in- 
creased, it interested, then awoke curiosity and finally excited alarm. 

On Purcell & Ladd's drug store, written in chalk, in a full round 
hand, was the inscription, "The Lord is on our side, but in conse- 
quence of pressing engagements elsewhere, could not attend at 
Fisher's Creek. Winchester and Atlanta." 

The police erased "Vae Victis" repeatedly, but it always reap- 
peared. A keen and close watch was kept on the lookout for the 
perpetrators, but none were ever detected ; still the prophetic and 
solemn words met the eye, carrying dismay into the hearts of the 
superstitious and a vague alarm to many breasts. This symbol of 
dread significance was scratched, drawn and chalked on church 
doors, and even on the walls of the penitentiary, in huge letters. 
The daring actor kept his secret well, and one cannot understand 
what motive induced him to run such a fearful risk for days and 
days; for had he been caught there was so much fierce feeling on 
the subject that he would have been dealt with most summarily. 

The colored people in the city were much excited about this time 
by a display one evening of celestial pyrotechnics that would have 
discounted an Arctic night. Shooting stars raced across the sky; 
flaming meteors shot madly through the fathomless ether. To the 
superstitious there were enough portents and signs to signify the 
coming of dire disaster and ruin. 

The cause of religion, outside of the army, prospered ; the 
churches were filled. Among the negroes there were first-class re- 
vivals at everv meeting-house: the "brethren and sistern" put their 



SHADOWS 685 

houses in order to be ready either for the day of Jubilee or the de- 
struction of the great globe itself. 

Among "Lee's IMiserables" devotional exercises languished, ex- 
cept in a few favored localities. It is hard to retain religion on an 
empty stomach ; a famine-stricken man gains consolation from no- 
creed. The Johnnies had been fighting now nearly four years and 
they had gone through so much that many of them honestly thought, 
as one ragged sinner rather profanely put it, "they had such a hell 
of a time in this country that the good Lord would not see them 
damned in the next." 

The soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia had ceased tO' 
shrink from death, and as far as it is possible for man to do, thev 
ehminated all fear of consequences from their natures. A shrieking 
shell flying over their heads would not cause a single man to flinch. 
A bad flesh wound was the subject of unfeigned congratulation, 
while a simple fracture was no more thought of than a sprained 
ankle. 

All writers of histories, memoirs and essays on the Confederate 
Army have laid stress upon the deep religious feeling that imbued 
the rank and file of the Army of Northern Virginia ; and so often 
has this statement been made that "Lee's Miserables" will go down 
in history as being as pious and religious as the Covenanters who 
followed Claverhouse, and the Puritans and Roundheads who 
fought and conquered under the stout Oliver. Never was there a 
greater mistake. It is true that the South at the outbreak of the 
war was a deeply religious section ; so much so that a man who 
entertained "free thought" views was ostracised. 

During the first year of the war there was a revival, and in fine 
weather the bi\ ouac was very much like a camp-meeting, Lee's and 
Jackson's examples, in the summer and autumn of '62, had a won- 
derful effect in stimulating a devout feeling, and conversions were 
made by the thousands : but the fear of death has a great deal to do 
with piety, and the less Johnny Reb feared death the less he prayed. 
Then, again, cut off from the refining, softening influence of women 
the soldier soon became hardened. 

At the beginning of the war every soldier had a Testament in his 
pocket: three years later there was not a half dozen in each regi- 
ment. 

The soldiers naturally distrusted the efiicacy of prayer when they 
found that the most devout Christians were as liable to be shot as the 
most hardened sinner, and that a deck of cards would stop a bullet 
as effectively as a prayer book; then, too, death had become so com- 



686 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

mon that it had lost its majesty. When a soldier helped to fill a 
trench with hundreds of festering, decaying humans he soon be- 
came indifferent — his thoughts were the ones that passed through 
the brains of all his comrades ; as Max Nordau puts it, "It is ap- 
palling to think of the cessation of our consciousness and the an- 
nihilation of our Ego, none-the-less a man may arrive at that pitch 
of philosophy when he is ready to accept the inevitable with a light 
heart." So it was with Johnny Reb — he laughed in the face of 
death and thought little about his soul. The deep, intense, religious 
fervor soon changed to indifference: and I certainly saw nothing 
and heard nothing of an out-door prayer-meeting or a conversion 
among the cavalry during the last year of the war. "Let women 
do the praying and we will do the fighting.'' was Johnny Rett's 
philosophy. 

In January, 1865, Lee had in round numbers some 65,000 vet- 
erans, all inured to hardships and with childlike confidence in their 
leader. Had the army been well provisioned Lee could have left 
Richmond and the war would have really but just commenced. The 
privates around their meagre fires said all this and believed it, too. 
They were not tired of fighting, but sick almost unto death with 
famine and the hardships which they ^^■ere compelled to undergo. 
God help them! they had little to comfort them. 

They lived literally in the trenches. When the sun came out in 
fitful gleams and at long intervals, the men would swarm on the 
parapets, first having established a truce with their friends across 
the way, whose breastw^orks fronted theirs some 75 or 100 yards 
distant. Johnny Reb would get up in the morning and poke his 
head out of his hollow ; giving a comprehensive look at the sky he 
would yell out : 

"Sun's a shinin', come out of your holes!" 

In a moment the breastw^orks would be thronged with dirt-be- 
grimed men. The spokesman who had the loudest voice would yell 
out : 

"Billy Yank! O— B-i-1-l-y— Y-a-n-k !" 

"Well, Johnny R-e-b?" 

"Don't shoot! it's a truce." 

Back would come the reply "All right," and the crest of the forts 
would be lined with the blue-coats. A wdiite handkerchief stuck 
here and there on a bayonet announced the impromptu truce in 
force. After a good sun-bath and stretching of limbs the handker- 
chiefs were taken dowai and the warning cry of "Rats to your holes !" 
caused the soldiers of both sides to dodge down out of sight, and 



SHADOWS 687 

then if one poked his liead abo^■e the works for even a second he 
would be sure to have an ounce of lead in it. 

This mole-like existence was killing the men ; hundreds could 
not stand it. or at least they lacked the nerve to endure, and de- 
serted to the enemy. These men were chiefly of the lower ranks of 
life from the far Southern States, whose homes were within the 
enemy's lines, and who, heart-sick at never hearing from their 
families, and utterly hopeless of the successful termination of the 
A\ ar, rendered desperate by the pangs of hunger, forgot their man- 
hood and their country. 

No one could feel any deep-seated anger for these men ; they had 
proved their devotion to their cause by years of endurance, and only 
when their vital powers had weakened and they had become physi- 
cal and mental wrecks, did they renounce their cause. 

It is true these men had lost their self-respect before they slunk 
away from their colors, and perhaps there were other reasons why 
they forfeited their honor as soldiers ; it may be that the rags in 
which they were clad lowered their self-esteem to zero; certainly 
many writers contend that good clothing is indispensable to our 
amour propre. 

It is no exaggeration to say that Lee's army looked like all the 
beggars in Christendom assembled together. Holes and patches 
everywhere, half hidden by dirt and mud, which covered "Johnny" 
from head to foot. There were all sorts of costumes ; anything that 
would keep the rain and cold from the bony figure was eagerly 
donned, and such headgear was never seen before, except probably 
in the rising of the people of Vendee against the "Bonnet Rouge" 
of the Jacobins, when their leader. Chevalier de Beauvilliers. 
charged at the head of his troops clad in a lawyer's gown and on 
his head a woman's hat tied over a woolen night-cap. 

A fatal mistake was made by the Confederate Government in at- 
tempting to hold Richmond against the whole power of the North. 
A regular siege suited their habits, tempers and genius. It was the 
last thing which should have been resorted to by the South, whose 
strength was in her immense territory, her deep rivers, her lofty 
mountains and impassable swamps. 

The soldiers around the camp fires talked of this and it only added 
fresh fuel to the flame of wrath against Mr. Davis and his Cabinet, 
who insisted upon General Lee defending Richmond at all hazards. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

THE LAST ACT. 

Leaving Richmond early in the morning I rode to Petersburg, 
reaching there by noon. I took a rest, fed my mare and ate a 
couple of sandwiches, for which I paid $15, this being the amount 
the Confederate Government allowed for my month's valuable ser- 
vices. I priced a pair of boots which would have looked very stylish 
on my feet, but they were too much for my pile, being $550. 

I was offered $15,000 cash for my bay mare, but scorned the offer. 
There were few people who kept a bank account; the money was 
all in circulation and went from hand to hand with marvelous 
rapidity. 

"A nimble sixpence is better than a slow shilling," and the "prom- 
ise to pay" rustled and flew around like the famed leaves of Vallom- 
brosa in a tornado. 

After getting well out of Petersburg a barren scene was before 
me; a vast section entirely denuded of trees, with only the earth- 
works breaking the monotony. 

As I rode on through Chesterfield County and Reams Station, I 
thought that the country round could almost compare with "Mosby's 
Confederacy" in desolation. The people were living almost entirely 
on corn bread and sorghum molasses, and it was a God-send to 
them, this syrup; no one ever remembered seeing it before the war, 
but it suddenly spread all over Virginia, and every house had its 
cane-patch. It was food and drink for the people; there were 
sorghum pies, sorghum puddings, and worse than all, sorghum and 
rye coffee, a mixture most nauseating on a warm day, and often 
acting as an emetic to unaccustomed stomachs. But habit conquers 
the likes and dislikes of the palate and forces the senses to adapt 
themselves to distasteful elements, and so at last the elders drank 
the muddy concoction and the children cried for it. 

It happened to be a sunny day in March, and I looked curiously at 
the infantry and artillery held in reserve in the rear of the breast- 
works. What I saw made me feel faint and heart-sick. The sol- 
diers, gaunt, bony, wild-eyed and sullen, sat on the side of the road 
listless. No jokes, no laughter, no groups of social fellows squatted 
r>n a blanket playing seven-up or draw-poker, no jibes greeted me as 
1 rode through, of "Say, fellows, here comes a buttermilk-ranger," 



THK I.AST ACT 689 

or "Say, Mister, don't be afraid, I'm just goin' to pop a cap,'' or any 
of the sayings that the foot soldier usually greeted the more for- 
tunate cavalryman with. 

Who could recognize in the apathetic men the laughing, reckless 
soldiery of last spring and summer, who advanced into battle with 
bright eyes and springing step, or nonchalantly smoked their pipes 
under a heavy fire of artillery. 

I saw them cook their rations : a hoecake of meal and water, not 
a vestige of anything else, and both the unsavory, indigestible mass 
down their throats in a few gulps. 

Reaching Reams Station, I was rapidly questioned by the guard 
and compelled to go before the commander, "Fighting Mahone," 
as he was called, an odd-looking little man, but as quick as lightning 
and a born soldier. His division swore by him, and next to Stone- 
wall Jackson he impressed his individuality more upon his men and 
magnetized them more than almost any other officer. 

Mahone's division seemed in better spirits than the other troops. 
I saw many of them eating meat, which they said Mahone stole 
from the cavalry. It was a well-known fact that INIahone was an 
indefatigable forager, and his division was the best cared for during 
the last year of the war. It meant something more solid than fame 
to be one of Mahone's men. yet Major Stiles, of the Richmond 
Howitzers, says in his book (page 311) : 

"We could not repress a vague feeling that, somehow, we were 
not doing our full duty. Especially was this feeling intensified 
when, a few months later, Mahone's division, which had been man- 
ning a very trying part of the Petersburg lines, was brought over be- 
tween the Appomattox and the James to relieve Pickett's, which was 
sent north of the James. We thought we had before seen men with 
the marks of hard service upon them ; but the appearance of this 
division of Mahone's, and particularly of Finnegan's Florida Bri- 
gade, with which we happened to be most closely associated, made 
us realize for the first time what our comrades in the hottest Peters- 
burg lines were undergoing. We were shocked at the condition, the 
complexion, the expression of the men, and of the officers, too, even 
tlie field officers; indeed, we could scarcely realize that the un- 
washed, uncombed, unfed and almost unclad creatures we saw were 
officers of rank and reputation in the army." 

It is naturally a most desolate region between Reams Station and 
Stony Creek, and the presence of both armies had made the country 
around a most uninviting picture. The land was flat, the woods 
44 



690 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

scrubby, the soil thin, and the whole section was half under water. 
Here and there was a clearing with solitary houses, which seemed to 
want to hide away in the woods. All along the road was palpable 
evidence of the frenzied struggles of last fall. Rusty muskets, equip- 
ments all mildewed, bloody rags and skeleton horses decomposed, 
lay scattered around, not even furnishing a meal for the buzzards : 
and, by the way, I never saw those carrion birds on a battle-field ; I 
often read of them in my school days : of their fattening off the slain. 
Every painter of battle scenes would have them in, as one of the 
attendant horrors of the exhibition, and it was always a source of 
wonderment to me why the unclean birds did not enjoy the carnival 
of death. The crackling of the muskets and the roar of the cannon 
merging into one great uproar must have frightened them away, at 
any rate I never beheld in all those years a single buzzard circling 
around over a field where the dead men lay by thousands, and the 
maimed horses by scores. Here was another popular delusion gone. 

I did not see a living thing on the road from Reams Station until 
I drew rein at Tower Hill. A few months had wrought a great 
change, even on this old plantation. The overseer had disappeared, 
and all discipline had relaxed. The darkies, left pretty much to 
their own devices, w^orked when they chose and stopped when it 
suited them. They were waiting for they knew not what. The 
superabundance of food and drink no longer existed, for all that 
could be spared at home was sent to the starving army, and most 
of the liquors to the hospital at Petersburg. 

The house and cottages were jammed and crammed with refugees 
and visitors. There were several officers of high rank enjoying 
their furloughs, a couple of distinguished lawyers, a learned judge, 
two captains of the old United States Navy, of which my father was 
one, and five or six soldiers gave to the place a military look. 

There was great excitement among them at this time about the 
Peace Conference and Mr. Davis's Ultimatum. They eagerly ques- 
tioned me about the feeling in Richmond on the subject, and the 
opinion of the soldiers. I assured them that from what I could learn 
public sentiment was divided, but most of the citizens followed the 
teachings of the Richmond Hxaminer , and were in favor of car- 
rying on the war to the bitter end ; also, that Dr. A. Y. P. Garnett 
told me that he had discussed the final proposition of Mr. Lin- 
coln, "to lay down our arms, give up slavery and return to the 
Union with all of our rights unimpaired," with the President, and 
Mr. Davis had said that even if he had accepted the proposition the 
people of Richmond would have hung him in efiigy from every lamp 



THE LAST ACT 69 1 

post in the city. As for our soldiers, they had faith in General Lee, 
but a positive dislike for the Administration, and were now in such 
a state that they had ceased to care for anything. I then told them 
of the condition of the troops which I had seen the day before. 

What I heard from that group opened my eyes. They were well- 
informed and thoughtful men and knew what they were talking 
about ; they all agreed that outside of Richmond the people of the 
Confederate States had seen the hopelessness of the struggle and 
were unanimously in favor of accepting the terms offered by Mr. 
Lincoln. To refuse them, both soldiers and citizens agreed, was 
the maddest act of folly of all the folly of Mr. Davis's Presidential 
life. He knew, they said, of the utter inability of General Lee to 
withstand the overwhelming onset of Grant, and yet shut his eyes 
and let streams of blood be shed fruitlessly. 

Mr. Davis was also aware that General Lee had but a few weeks 
since, before the secret committee of Congress, fully explained the 
desperate and deplorable condition of his army, which made his in- 
sane determination all the more indefensible. 

In later years, when the inside view of the Confederate Govern- 
ment became exposed to the public gaze, Mr. Davis's actions show 
more plainly his unfitness for the position which he occupied, and 
justifies the conclusion of all unbiased, fair-minded men, that to him 
above all others is due the failure of the South. 

In an eulogy delivered by Hon. Thomas J. Semmes, of Louisiana, 
who was a Senator in the Confederate Congress, upon General R. E. 
Lee shortly after his death, Mr. Semmes said : 

"A year before General Lee was appointed Commander-in-Chief, 
a bill was passed in Congress creating the position of Commander- 
in-Chief of all the forces of the Confederacy, and appointing Gen- 
eral Lee to that position. 

"It failed because Mr. Jefferson Davis would not give the bill his 
approval. Lee made no complaint; his friends solicited no votes to 
counteract the President's veto. 

"Mr. Davis by that act undermined the last arch and knocked the 
last prop from under the tottering Confederacy." (De Bow's 
Commercial Record and Reviczv, Volume 8, page 853.) 

General Grant had but a poor opinion of the Confederate Presi- 
dent. He says : 

"Longstreet was not sent to Knoxville for the reason stated, but 
because Mr. Davis had an exalted opinion of his own military genius 
and thought he saw^ a chance of killing two birds with one stone. 
On several occasions during the war he came to the relief of the 



692 JOHNNY REB and BILLY YANK 

Union Army by means of his superior military genius/' (Cen- 
tury, "Battles of Civil War,'' Vol. 31, p. 711.) 

I asked the Judge what chance we had of winning our indepen- 
dence now ? 

He answered that the way he looked at things the South had but 
one chance in a million. 

Even after hearing all of these opinions I could not believe that 
our cause was irretrievably lost. The faith of most of us in Vir- 
ginia, in the invincibility of Lee and his veterans, was as well 
grounded as our religion. There stood the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia, the cohorts thinned, it is true, and hungry, but still defiant. 
Other peoples had passed through as trying ordeals and had taken 
their places among the nations of the earth. Switzerland's cause was 
almost hopeless when Philip the Bold poured his Burgundians into 
the gorges and valleys of the Alps. 

The South was still immeasurably better of¥ than Prussia in the 
fourth of the Seven Years' War, when the starving people ate their 
seed corn and Frederick found himself, the morning after the dis- 
astrous defeat, at Kunersdorf with but three thousand men, the re- 
mainder of 50,000 soldiers he had led into battle, and enveloped 
by hostile armies. 

Even in the New World was a precedent which gave hope and 
comfort to the despairing, for Washington, when the Rebel cause 
was well-nigh hopeless, led his half-naked army across the ice gorges 
of the Delaware, and storming the Hessian camp at Trenton plucked 
the flower Safety from the nettle Danger. 

Luck must turn, and a brilliant victory anywhere in the South 
would reanimate the soldiers and people alike. Even the safe arri- 
val of half a dozen blockade-runners, bringing bread and meat, 
would be equal to a reinforcement of 10,000 men to Lee. 

The days sped by swiftly and April was ushered in by perfect 
weather, and the soldiers at Tower Hill made preparations to rejoin 
tlieir commands. 

There were two young men in the county upon whom I cast my 
eyes covetously. They had just reached their sixteenth year and 
were so fresh and young they would make admirable food for pow- 
der. I determined as soon as I gazed upon their innocent faces that 
I would persuade them to go with me and thus add two more troop- 
ers to the Black Horse. 

One was the only child of an old hulk who loved himself better 
than all the world, a miserly wretch who, had he lived in the "De- 
batable Land." would have changed his principles according to the 



the; I.AST ACT 693 

color of the raider's uniform and would have turned around so quick- 
ly from Reb to Yank and from Yank to Reb that the seat of his 
breeches would have been in front ; would have taken the oath of al- 
legiance in the morning and spit it out at noon. He swore that his 
son Harry should not go to the war, and told him blood-curdling 
tales of the dangers of a soldier's life. 

The old man had a suspicion that 1 intended to rob him of the staff 
of his old age, and almost asked me not to come to his house; so I 
used to wait until he went into the woods to feed his hogs, then I 
would meet Harry and strive to fire his blood with legends of the 
dashing existence that the Black Horse led. 1 painted everything 
coleur de rose, and so enraptured his fancy that he promised to 
steal his father's old plough-horse from the stable and fly with me 
at any time I would name. 

The other youth was a good specimen of a "Johnny Raw." He 
was a second Tony Lumpkin, without his shrewdness. Tall, knock- 
kneed, big jointed, red-haired, freckle-faced, with the soft down just 
sprouting. He was the most timid, lazy, egotistical bumpkin I ever 
ran against, but he was a first-class shot, the only thing that he could 
do well ; I have often seen him bark a squirrel off the top of the loft- 
iest oak in the lowlands. Jemmy K. was the only boy in the house 
and he had seven sisters, who spoiled him until he was unbearable, 
and they raised their voices and wept when Jemmy threatened to 
leave home and join the army. 

I had tough work in persuading Jem. No English recruiting ser- 
geant ever talked more eloquently at a county fair to induce the stu- 
pid, simple swains to taste the Queen's shilling than did I to persuade 
this young man to enlist. T told him it was the hour for every Vir- 
ginian to go to the front, and if the war ended without his appear- 
ance in the field, no Virginia girl would look at him ; but on the con- 
trarv, if he would serve in one campaign he would be a hero and 
could marry any girl he wanted. That settled him, and Jem swore 
that he would follow me anywhere. 

On the 6th of April I started for Petersburg with my new recruits, 
and was shocked beyond measure to learn from a scout that Lee had 
abandoned Richmond and was falling back southward, in exactly 
what direction my informant could not say. Of course I thought by 
all military rules he was aiming to reach Johnston in North Caro- 
lina, and overwhelm Sherman before Grant could arrive, and I 
cheered myself and companions by explaining this masterly move 
on the chess-board, when Lee was allowing his castle to be taken 
so as to capture his adversary's queen. 



694 JOHNNY RKB AND BILLY YANK 

In traveling through the piney region of Virginia I was im- 
pressed by the hopelessness of the people who had not suffered by the 
actual invasion of the enemy. They were dispirited and gloomy. 

One night we stopped at the house of Mr. Ravenscroft Jones, a 
rich planter in Brunswick County, Virginia, who lived within a mile 
of the North Carolina line. His daughter, a lovely girl, was full of 
courage and hope ; she instilled her heroic spirit into my two com- 
panions, and she actually insisted upon loading my double-barrel 
gun, my favorite weapon when on a scout. 

After breakfast we continued our route South, and up to this time 
I was completely in the dark as to where to find our army. My re- 
cruits by this time had become confident and boastful, and all they 
wished was to meet the enemy. 

We were traveling along quite joyously. I had armed Jem with 
my double-barrel and sabre, and had loaned Harry my Sharpe's rifle; 
neither of them had pistols. We were jogging through a long lane 
with a high Virginia snake fence on each side, when all at once Jem 
and Harry set up a yell and turned their horses around and drove 
their spurs home. I turned in my saddle and looked down the lane 
and saw a squad of blue-coats about 200 yards off coming toward us 
in a hard gallop. I judged there were six or ten of them. As soon 
as they saw us running they fired their carbines, and the bullets made 
sweet music in the air. I put my mare in a run and overtook my 
command, which was speeding for dear life. I shouted to them not 
to be alarmed, that at the end of the lane was the woods, where we 
could halt and make a fight. They did not seem to hear me. They 
were simply frantic, and Jem looked as though he were passing- 
through a ghost-haunted graveyard at midnight; his eyes were 
bulging out. his yellow teeth showed through the tightenecl lips and 
he looked neither to the right nor left. Harry followed right behind, 
and stabbed his old plough horse with the spurs every time he heard 
the whistle of a bullet. 

Reaching the woods I tried to halt them, but in vain — they only 
ran the faster; so gixiug them a curse for company, I beheld them 
disappear down the road in a cloud of dust, and I have never laid 
eyes on my fighting recruits to this day. 

Turning my horse in his tracks I waited for the troopers; they 
slackened their gait when they saw me, and halted about 75 yards 
away. I wondered what on earth those cavalrymen were doing in 
this out of the way place. 

After a short consultation among themselves one placed a white 
handkerchief on the end of his sabre and the whole party advanced. 



THE LAST ACT 695 

1 shouted out to them to remain where they were, and for only two 
of them to come up the road. Two came cautiously, and I told them 
to put their pistols in their holsters. After hesitating they complied, 
and I rode up to them, and for the first time in my life I looked into a 
Yankee's eyes, armed and in the open, without firing and being fired 
upon. 

"Well, what do you want?" I said, keeping a sharp lookout at 
them, and placing my hand upon the butt of my revolver, which was 
concealed in my bosom. The following conversation took place: 

"We have bad news for you, Johnny Reb." 

"Well, what is it?" 

"General Lee has surrendered." 

"What!" 

"General Lee and his army surrendered two days ago." 

"That's a damn lie!" 

"We ain't no liars, and your Confederacy is gone up; that's the 
reason the boys sent me under a flag of truce to tell you the war is 
over." 

"Yes. that's a nicely-concocted story. You all are up to some 
devilment I know. If the war is over it did not seem so a few mo- 
ments ago when you tried to kill us." 

"O, we did not try to kill you, we only fired in fun." 

"It's very fine for those who like it, the bullets were whistling 
around our heads ; but I'm going now, and let me give you Yanks 
some good advice — don't try to have any more fun; if you do 
some fool will bushwhack you as you go through the woods, as 
sure as there are 'snakes in Ole Virginny.' " 

"Hold on, Johnny," said one, "give us a piece of tobacco." 

I handed over my bag and told them to take half. After the pipes 
were lighted the bearer of the flag said : 

"Johnny, I hope I may die if what I said wasn't true; you come 
ride back wdiere our boys are, they will treat you first-rate." 

"Not if I know myself, Billy ; but what are you cavalrymen do- 
ing up here, anyway?" 

"We are Sheridan's men and are scouting around on the flank." 

"Well, good-by; ride back to your squad and tell them to make 
up a better yarn next time." 

When they had reached their party I made a right about face and 
went along the road in a rattling gallop, hunting for my recruits ; 
but they had disappeared as mysteriously as though they had 
wings. No one in the section had met or heard of them. 

I kept on my way to Tarboro, N. C, a beautiful little town on the 



6q6 johnny reb and bili^y yank 

Roanoke River, and stayed there over night. Nobody had heard a 
word from the front, and the citizens laughed to scorn the rumors 
which I brought. 

A day's ride through the solemn, still pine woods brought me to 
Warrenton. N. C, a place of considerable local importance. There 
were tidings of disaster here. It was known that Richmond and 
Petersburg had been safely evacuated and that Lee was making his 
way southward. 

It chanced to be Sunday, a beautiful, bright day. I strolled 
around to the Episcopal Church and climbed the gallery stairs, and 
from a snug corner took notes of the surroundings. 

There were several aged gentlemen, not one of whom walked 
without a stick ; at least a dozen crippled soldiers, mostly legless or 
armless, but I could not see a single able-bodied man in the whole 
congregation. It was clear that this section of North Carolina 
rivaled her sister States, and had sent every qualified man into the 
army. 

But the most striking, and, withal, the saddest feature of the con- 
gregation was the number of women in black. Out of 47 present, 38 
were clad in the deepest mourning. What grief-stricken hearts and 
streaming eyes must those crepe veils have covered, and with what 
pathetic fervor must those trembling lips have repeated that portion 
of the litany, "From battle, murder and sudden death, Good Lord 
deliver us." Even the chimes of the bell, floating over the seques- 
tered village, must have sounded in many ears like a requiem. 

"Toll for the brave, 
The brave that are no more." 

After service I strolled into the churchyard, and oh! the newly 
made graves, with simple headstones of oak plank, painted white, 
with black lettering, telling of the great pestilence of an internecine 
conflict that was raging. Nearly all were inscribed, "Killed in bat- 
tle," or "Died from wounds received in the battle of — ." 

I could not help thinking of that apostrophe of Lamartine's that 
"Civil war leaves nothing but tombs," for it seemed that the dead 
in this silent city outnumbered the living population of the town. 

Monday I kept on southward toward Goldsboro. If Lee was 
uniting with Johnston, w^here were his legions? I had met no sol- 
dier from the front of the army, and like the apostles in the Bible. 
"I marveled greatly." 

That evening, while riding along a by-way. pondering upon sub- 



THE LAST ACT 697 

jects connected with the war, I met a mixed squad of officers, troop- 
ers and mounted infantr}', just from Goldsboro, and there, under the 
shade of the North CaroHna pines. I listened to words I never ex- 
pected to hear. 

Lee and the whole Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered. 
Yes, the great leader had yielded his sword. The matchless infantry 
which had. like the Spartans, inquired, Not hoiv many tlie enemy 
zvere, but where they zvere, had stacked its arms for the last time. 
The mighty artillery had turned the muzzle of the guns from the 
foe and dropped the useless lanyard. The dashing cavalry had 
taken off helm and harness from their gaunt steeds, never more to 
mount again to the stirring blast of "boots and saddles." 

Were I to live a thousand years I never can forget that hour. It 
was the knell of every hope and aspiration. No soldier could fight 
and suffer for four long years in any cause without having its success 
intertwined in his heart of hearts. 

Yes, the end had come. 

"Oh ! dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon 
Irrevocably dark, total eclipse 
Without all hope of day." 

I kept on my way South, determined to reach Johnston's army, 
and if he surrendered, to join Kirby Smith in Louisiana. 

The country was filled with soldiers, who roamed at will, but com- 
mitted no excesses. 

Late in the evening I joined a staff officer of General Joe John- 
ston's, and from him learned all the particulars of Lee's surrender 
at Appomattox, and thanked God I had not been there to witness 
the humiliation and despair of seeing that army, which I had always 
looked upon as unconquerable, ground its arms to the victors. The 
captain said, furthermore, that Johnston had sent a flag of truce to 
Sherman to surrender his command. 

The captain continued : "I have been ordered by General Johns- 
ton to inform all detached bodies of troops from Lee's army who 
escaped from the surrender and made their way here, that all re- 
sistance is at an end, and each soldier had best make his way home, 
and if his home be within the enemy's lines to give himself up as a 
prisoner and be paroled." 

I asked the captain about joining Kirby Smith ; he laughed at the 
idea, and said that General Smith and Dick Taylor would sur- 
render as soon as they heard of Lee's and Johnston's capitulation. 



698 JOHNNY REB AND BII.LY YANK 

I then inquired whether the South would engage in a guerrilla war- 
fare. He answered emphatically : 

"No ! Every Yankee soldier killed now in Virginia or North Caro- 
lina is a murder, and will be treated as such." Furthermore, the cap- 
tain told me to go home and work ; as for himself, he intended mak- 
ing Brazil his future place of residence. 

Reaching Warrenton, N. C, on the backward trip, I found that 
the sad intelligence of our failure in the cause we mutually loved 
was known, and that the people felt the most poignant sorrow that 
all their efforts, endurance and suffering had been for naught. 

On my way back to Tarboro, when passing through the pine bar- 
rens, I met a great wagon-train, under the command of Major Phil 
Slaughter, Mahone's quartermaster. These wagons had been sent 
to North Carolina to collect supplies and were returning to the di- 
vision packed with pork, meal, dried apples, sorghum and other coun- 
try produce. What a feast the soldiers would have had. There were 
a score or so of big army wagons, drawn by four mules each, in 
prime condition. The train was accompanied by a six-gun battery, 
which had been organized in middle Tennessee, and was on its way 
to join the Army of Northern Virginia. 

Slaughter was a personal friend of mine, so I gladly accepted his 
invitation to mess with him. 

After a dinner that would have satisfied a king, for the Major had 
a private stock of delicacies, we sat under the shadow of a huge oak 
tree and discussed the situation. The Major was in a perplexed 
state. 

"Here I am," he said, "with a long train and a six-gun battery, 
and have nowhere to go ; no country, no nothing. I have always 
prided myself on having nerve and being equal to any emergency 
which might arise, but I'll be damned if this doesn't beat me!" 

"Why don't you camp in the woods and send a courier to find Ma- 
hone and get his instructions as to what to do with all this stuff?" 

"What's the use? Mahone is nothing but a private citizen now, 
and then where am I to get a courier? 

"No," continued the Major, reflecting, "the play is over, the 
lights are being turned off and the audience must leave the theater. 
If I carry my train farther North or hold on to it much longer, the 
Yankees will gobble it up. The only square thing to do is to let the 
country people take what they w^ant. Tell my teamsters to help 
themselves first. B}^ the way. Hunter, there are nearly 100 mules; 
you may have just as many as you want." 

"Why don't you take them yourself, Major?" 



THE I^AST ACT 699 

"Because I would not be bothered with them, and besides it 
wouldn't look well. I want to get home as soon as possible. You 
may have the pick, and take as many wagons, supplies and mules 
as you want, and the six-gun battery too." 

Now, here was a fine chance to make a new start in life. Had 1 
possessed by half the common sense of the typical Billy Yank, I 
could have corralled in some secluded swamp half of the train with 
a little assistance, and in the fall have sold the animals at great 
profit. 

The next morning the natives of Edgecombe County began to ar- 
rive, for the news flew o\'er the country in some inexplicable manner, 
and they had a chance to help themselves to horse, or rather mule, 
flesh and provisions, in a way that would never occur again in the 
course of their lives. Some of the Simple Simons tried, as a poker 
player would have expressed it, "To hog the game and bust the 
bank," but the jNIajor saw that each person had no more than his 
share, which consisted of one mule and as much as he could carry ; 
the wagons were left on the roadside. 

Heaving a deep sigh the Major and his friend rode on to Tarboro, 
and the last thing we passed was the battery of artillery strung out 
along the road, quite alone, not a man or horse in sight. It was sad 
to see those beautiful cannon deserted in that way. 

After a night spent in Tarboro our squad separated and I returned 
by the same road I had come, and reached Mr. Ravenscroft Jones's 
house without meeting any further adventure. 

My host was profoundly grieved by Lee's surrender, but his 
daughter was almost distraught. I am sure she will never love a 
man as she loved her fair Southland. 

Mr. Jones agreed with me that a guerrilla warfare would be in- 
augm-ated, and that was the opinion of every one, with one excep- 
tion, I had met. None dreamed of an instantaneous peace. Miss 
Jones alone bade me never to yield; she actually got her brother's 
double-barreled gun, dropped in twenty buckshot with her own fair 
hands, and gave it to me as a parting gift. Mr. Jones, more politic, 
made me promise not to be induced to use it near his house. "For," 
said he, "my place is so well known as the resort of Southern sol- 
diers, that if any of the enemy are hurt in this vicinity they will 
charge me with being accessory before the fact and burn my build- 
ings." 

I promised, of course, and neither he nor I imagined how much 
hung upon that little incident. 

The ser^•ants brought word that the Yankee ca\-alry had been seen 



700 JOHNNY RUB AND BILLY YANK 

on the road some three miles distant. Miss Jones, as she handed me 
what she called a lunch, but what was enough rations to last me 
three days, urged me to be careful, but at the same time to do what 
damage I could. As I bowed and rode off I could not help thinking* 
that if every girl in the South showed the same enthusiastic devotion 
she did the whole land would be aflame. 

I did not feel certain as to whether the blue-coats I might chance 
to meet would treat me as a friend or foe ; so I determined to run no 
risks. I had a fine four-year-old mare named "Maud," and had be- 
come very much attached to her. She was a most affectionate and 
sagacious animal and understood my ways as well as a favorite dog 
might. Whenever I camped and the nights were cool, I would snug- 
gle up against Maud squatted on her four feet and sleep comfortably 
all night. In the morning she would never attempt to rise without 
licking my face and this would awaken me. 

On the road when making her way in a dog trot she would turn 
her head and take from my hand any little tid-bit and eat it without 
changing her motion or breaking her gait. I taught her all sorts of 
tricks, especially to jump, and to follow me like a dog ; I had only to 
dismount, call her, and plunge into thickest covert or briers and she 
would come close on my heels. 

About a couple of miles below Mr. Jones's house I was pursuing 
my way along the turnpike, smoking my pipe and buried in my own 
thoughts ; at last I looked up in a casual way and at once every sense 
was on the alert. Before me, about a hundred yards away, was a 
squadron of Federal cavalry. I stopped my horse ; they made signs 
for me to ride up ; I was about to comply when I happened to look 
around and found that I was in a trap. The road had a high fence 
on both sides and a squad of cavalry had gotten in my rear, cutting 
me off. Another squad had taken position on the right in an open 
meadow and cornered me off in that direction. On the left wd.s a 
large field, the farther side bounded by woods, which had been lately 
felled and the vvood corded. Once there. I would be safe, but a nar- 
row swamp of black mud, common in North Carolina, and so deep 
as to almost amount to an impassable bog, ran through the field, 
making it dangerous to attempt to cross. 

I hesitated a moment, considering whether it would not be best to 
give myself up, for the struggle was practically over and no harm 
could come to me; but what meant those warlike proceedings? It 
certainly did not look like peace, and if captured I would probably be 
stripped of my arms, my horse taken, and I left to foot it home. 

It doesn't take a scout long to make up his mind after a training of 



THE I.AST ACT 701 

two years, so I roused my mare by a series of severe stabs with the 
spur, and backing her a few paces gave her the rein and a shout and 
put her to the fence. 

She faced it beautifully, but did not have a run to clear it entirely, 
yet the impetus was such that she sent the top rail spinning into the 
air and down she came, but in a second she recovered and was 
streaking it for the woods. The squad of blue-coats rushed to the 
swamp to head me off, but they were too late. I reached the quag- 
mire, jumped off my mare and whistled for her to follow me. then 
sprang into the black, treacherous ooze. 

I had not gone ten yards when I sank to my knees, and flounder- 
ing on a few paces farther went deeper to my hips. I was hampered 
and weighed down by my gun and equipments, but managed to 
scramble out, and then heard the Yanks cry : 

"Surrender!" 

Then they came dri\ing at me with their revolvers as fast as 
they could draw hammer and let fly. I saw the dust fly from my 
jacket, but did not turn my head, and struggled desperately to reach 
firm land, and in the midst of the fusilade I struck the bank. 

Just as I got there and was well on my feet 1 felt something strike 
my shoulder, and whirling around saw my faithful mare. She had 
gotten through the bog and was standing by me, breathing heavily, 
her eyes almost bursting from her head. I felt all right. Just then 
two troopers, who had gotten through the swamp higher up, came on 
me and checked their horses within ten feet, leveling their revolvers. 

They were surprised when they saw the black muzzle of a double- 
barrel aimed full at the foremost. I pressed the trigger half way, 
and then my promise to Mr. Jones, and the dire consequences of the 
act, flashed over my mind and I released the pressure on the steel 
and the two troopers knew there was no chance of two pistol bul- 
lets equalling forty or fifty buckshot, so whirled their steeds around 
and sped away. 

Mounting my mare I rode back some thirty yards and took off 
my hat, giving the cavalrymen on the opposite side a low bow, think- 
ing what a fine effect those buckshot would make if fired into that 
squad, peppering every man and horse. 

The troopers shouted and cheered, but did not fire ; so I uncocked 
my double-barrel and putting spurs to Maud cantered across the tim- 
ber and entered the woods. I made an examination and found three 
bullet holes through my jacket, my horse slightly wounded, and one 
bAll had embedded itself in mv roll of clothing, which was buckled 



702 JOHNNY REB AND BILIvY YANK 

behind the saddle, and had perforated a new pair of pants through its 
closely wrapped folds until it looked like a colander. 

I thought if this was peace, I could not perceive wherein its 
charms lay ; if I was to be shot at on sight, I might as well take 
to the mountains and imitate Rob Roy. It showed, too, that in 
those perilous times the King's Highway was a more dangerous 
route than Hounslow Heath in the palmiest days, so I deter- 
mined to ride across country until I struck Tower Hill. 

I zigzagged my way northward, stopping at every convenient 
farm-house to inquire about the route and gossip over the mo- 
mentous question of the future. I found that many of the farmers 
deprecated anything like a guerrilla warfare, and yet would be 
willing for the war to continue if General Lee said so. The peo- 
ple looked to him, and did not even honor Mr. Davis or the Ad- 
ministration with a word of sympathy. The President, wherever 
he might be, might issue proclamation after proclamation and it 
would not bias any one ; but a word from General Lee, and every 
unparoled soldier would take to the woods and continue the 
struggle. 

It was marvelous what sublime confidence this great man had 
inspired, not only in his army, but in the people. A few words 
from his lips, even though a prisoner and helpless, telling them 
to carry on the fight individually and collectively, would have 
been as potent as the fiery cross signal by Montrose to his High- 
land clans. 

History has never done full justice to Grant for the manner in 
which he brought the war to a speedy conclusion. 

It was the promptings of his big heart which brought about 
such absolute peace after the surrender of Lee. The course of 
the victorious general on that momentous occasion could not 
have been more considerate, more honorable, nor kinder. As an 
American soldier, he acted his part with a simple dignity; and 
his consideration for the feelings of his erstwhile foes, in the hour 
of their deepest despair and sorrow, touched them deeply. 

On the night of the surrender there was not heard in the 
Union camps the roll of a drum, the roar of a gun, or the echo of 
a cheer. 

Grant's order, ''that the soldiers should retain their horses and 
side-arms." was an act of sympathetic kindness, but it was none 
the less the acme of astute diplomacy, for it changed thousands 
of moody, sullen men into law-abiding citizens. 

The end of the war was so different from that predicted by 



THE LAST ACT 703 

every soldier ; they all thought that if Richmond was taken, 
every troop would take to the mountains and swamps, and carry 
on tiie struggle as did the guerrillas in Spain against Napoleon, 
and as Sumter and Marion, later on, waged against the British. 

There were thousands of cavalrymen who were very young, 
men under twenty-five, whose lives had been shaped and taste 
fixed by years of campaigning. They were daring, fearless and 
utterly reckless, loving the blare of the bugle and a wild charge 
above all else ; the idea of peace was distasteful to these men, 
and it needed but some overt act to send them hurrying to the 
shelter of the Blue Ridge. 

Had Lee and his fellow-officers high in rank been treated as 
Secretary Stanton and President Andrew Johnson intended they 
should be, the whole South would have become a "Debatable 
Land" of flame, fire and blood. 

In the evening I camped for the last time, and I turn to my 
note-book, so begrimed with dirt, dust and stains, and so worn 
with frequent handling as to make its contents almost illegible. 

"Brunswick County, April . 

"I am sitting by my solitary camp-fire in a nice little nook in the 
woods. My sure-footed and beloved mare, who never yet failed 
me, and saved me from the Yanks to-day, is lying down, daintily 
chewing some fodder w^hich I pulled from a neighbormg rick. 
The trees of dogwood are bursting from bud into blossom, and 
making the air sweet and wholesome. I have just finished eat- 
ing the rations put up by my fair hostess, and only lack the wine 
to drink 'a health' to Miss Jones. Here's to her anyway ! 

"Well, what am I to do? This life suits me, but I can't start 
a Southern Confederacy myself. I will, I fear, have to get a 
parole and maybe swallow the oath. That I won't do. I'll go 
home to see my people, and then strike for Brazil. The United 
States will never have charms for me in this life. Vanquished, 
and suffering martyrdom for four years such as the saints never 
dreamed of. and now to be ground under a victor's heel ! It is 
too hard. One pipe more, and a deep sleep from which I de- 
voutly hope I may never waken." 

The next night, after a rough ride of some fifteen miles. I rested 
my wearied bones in a bed at Tower Hill. I found all the refu- 
gees had scattered, some to Norfolk, some to Richmond, and 
what struck me as marvelous. Captain Blow had his two cavalry 
horses, lean as they were, hitched to a plow, putting in a crop of 



704 JOHNNY KEB AND BIIvLY YANK 

corn. Here was a transition; the fiery war-horse of yesterday, 
the patient beast of burden to-day; and the dashing Captain, 
famous for ratthng charges, now using a great fishing pole as a 
switch to keep the animals in furrow ; and, worst of all, instead of 
the stirring blare of the bugle, which makes the steed prick up his 
ears and causes the Captain to mount and away, is the mellow 
toot of the dinner horn. 

The negroes had nearly all quit work. The "day of Jubilee" 
had arrived and the most of them, like the expectant Millerites, 
believed that labor was ended for them in this world. Dressed 
in holiday attire, they herded together, went to church, and had 
revivals every day in the week, and what with whiskey and relig- 
ion, the average African was the happiest being in existence. 

A few days' rest, and the intelligence received that absolute 
peace was prevailing everywhere, made me unbuckle my arms 
forever. 

I started to Petersburg to yield myself up, "rescue or no 
rescue." Unquestionably the magnanimous terms of General 
Grant to the surrendered army, terms alike an honor to the gen- 
erous heart and politic head, had wonderful effect in securing an 
instantaneous peace. Had he imposed harsh terms there would 
undoubtedly have been much disorder, which might have spread 
from point to point and have entailed terrible misery upon the 
people. 

En route to Petersburg I had to ride through several camps of 
the Unionists, now Yankee no more, and I met with only kind- 
ness and pleasant greetings from my erstwhile foes ; but I seemed 
to be in a dream, riding free and unchallenged through the hosts 
of blue-coats. 

I stopped over at Petersburg, and reporting to the provost 
marshal was paroled and received my papers. 

Late that evening I strolled along the main street, which was 
thronged with Union soldiers, with here and there a gray-jacket, 
sightseers from the North, and camp followers clad in every con- 
ceivable garb. 

The strains of several bands were now heard, and I climbed 
a high pair of steps to watch the troops go by. For the first time 
in my life mj^ eyes rested upon the black cohorts, and I gazed 
upon them at first with as much curiosity as a newly fledged en- 
sign just from his English home looks upon the battalion of dusky 
Sepoys. 

As I watched their uncouth marching step, which was exagger- 



THE IvAST ACT 705 

ated almost to a clog dance, it came over me like a flash the great 
mistake the South made in not arming and drilling them; but 
those thoughts changed when I heard their exultant cheers and 
yells, as they marched up the streets of the conquered city. 
Then I felt with all its force the bitterness and unutterable 
wretchedness of the vanquished and poor Old Virginia, now 
fallen from her lofty pinnacle, prostrate in the dust. 



45 



CHAPTER XLII. 
The: curtain falls. 

I left Petersburg and reached Richmond by noon. Oh, what a 
change ! The proudest of the proud Confederate cities ! The 
Empress of the South! The Queen City of the New Nation! 
with the matchless legions of Lee as her body-guard, now 
fallen, her throne overturned, her diadem of priceless jewels in 
the mire and trodden beneath the victor's heel. 

Where are the incomparable infantry who swore to die before 
the majesty of her presence should be profaned by so much as a 
hostile touch? They have kept their oath. One-third He sleep- 
ing beneath the soil they loved so well; one-third, with limbs 
missing, are hobbling along the highways of life hopeless, well- 
nigh helpless; and one-third, famine-stricken, almost naked, have 
grounded their arms before their conquerors, who, God be 
thanked! raised no cheers, uttered no taunt to the men whose 
gleaming steel they had seen so often in the battle smoke. 

I walked up Franklin Street to see General Lee, and found 
him alone in the double parlor of his house, walking up and 
down lost in deep thought. As I looked at him I felt what Gen- 
eral Wolseley wrote: and be it said that Wolseley, who was com- 
mander-in-chief of the English Army, had met in his varied 
career every sovereign, monarch and ruler in Europe, and every 
sultan, rajah and potentate in Asia: 

"I have met," said he, "with many of the great men of my 
time, but Lee alone impressed me with the feeling that I was in 
the presence of a man who was cast in a grander mold, and 
made of different and finer metal than all other men." 

It is a transcendental tribute, but it is true. I have met Gen- 
eral Lee many times ; first when as a boy I visited Arlington, 
with Parke Custis, showing me his paintings on the wall ; I have 
seen General Lee as he was taking his daily walk unattended by 
staff officer or orderly, and have been at his headquarters many 
times, and always with the same feeling of homage. It was not 
the difference of rank, for as we stood in that room, all title, 
power and rank had vanquished; we were two Virginia gentle- 
men of the same walk ; his princely heritage, Arlington, was con- 
fiscated : mine, equally as fine, a few miles distant, had shared the 



THE CURTAIX FALLS 707 

same fate, and still the same reverent love and profound respect 
made my heart beat and my cheeks flush as I greeted the Vir- 
ginia gentleman, Robert E. Lee, as when I saluted the com- 
mander of the Confederate Army, with sixty thousand soldiers at 
his back. 

In ever}^ large army there are many rough, ribald wretches who 
hold nothing sacred and have no reverence, and who hate all in 
authority, yet those very men were devoted heart and soul to 
Lee. What magic was that which attracted the undying affec- 
tion of all who came in contact with him? What power that so 
awoke adoration in women's breasts that they put gloves on 
their right hands when meeting him, only to take them ofif and 
lay them away as a most priceless souvenir to be handed down to 
their children and their children's children with the tradition that 
the hand of General Lee once clasped the glove? 

Every tongue was tied, and malice was dumb when his name 
was mentioned. 

Thiers cites an incident of the idolatrous love which the vet- 
erans of the Old Guard felt for Napoleon : "At Borodino a shell 
fell near Napoleon with the fuse burning, and two of his guards 
jumped between him and the sputtering bomb." 

I do not believe there was a soldier in our army that would not 
have done the same for Lee, and without a thought that he was 
giving his life to shield him from harm. A man who inspires 
such love is as immortal as any being born of woman can be. 

When I grasped his hand and looked in his face it was as much 
as I could do to keep from breaking down. The last time I saw 
him was at the head of his legions, advancing against Meade near 
Bristow Station, and now — solitary and alone he stood. Jupiter 
divested of his bolt, Neptune bereft of his trident, Mars robbed 
of his buckler and javelin — yet how he stood, unmatched among 
all men. I could never analyze the feeling that General Lee in- 
spired in me. I had visited at his home at Arlington before the 
war. his son being a schoolmate of mine, and I had seen him there, 
and he was my boyish hero, but afterwards, when a reckless, care- 
less soldier, with not one atom of reverence in my make-up, he 
subdued me by his verv presence. It was not fear, it was a mixed 
feeling of homage, adoration and awe. His was not an obtrusive 
personality, but there enveloped him a nameless grandeur, a simple 
yet immaculate dignity, a kingly presence that made one uncon- 
sciously take off his hat and stand bareheaded in his presence. 
I have met some of the greatest men of the times, but I merely 



7o8 JOHNNY re;b and billy yank 

felt a profound respect for their genius of talent, nothing more. 
I can understand how men stand, diffident, respectful, subdued be- 
fore an Oriental despot, a Latin king, but to have those feelings 
before a conquered soldier is an enigma that is simply beyond so- 
lution. 

The future Thiers or Macaulay, in writing the history of the 
American Civil War, will find it difficult to detail the reason of the 
boundless love and faith that the soldiery had for Lee. Envy's 
hiss or Folly's bray never touched him. With all other generals of 
the army, slander and gossip were rife, but not even Detraction 
whispered one word against Lee. It was not his name or family 
prestige, for there was his eldest son, W. H. F. Lee, who com- 
manded a brigade of cavalry ; I have heard the ragged Rebs who 
served under him curse him up and down and all around. 

Lee never used the arts of other great commanders to curry favor 
with the rank and file; he never caroused with them like Caesar 
did with the Legionaries, nor indulged in the song and dance business 
as Napoleon was wont to do with his grizzled veterans of the Old 
Guard; Lee treated all alike courteously, though he showed more 
tenderness toward the men in the ranks, for Lee loved his men and 
none appreciated more than he the unparalleled hardships they suf- 
fered (his youngest son among them) with such undaunted forti- 
tude. If the unselfish, divine love of millions could compensate a 
man for the sting of defeat, Lee was fully recompensed. 

I believed then, and I believe now, that no man born of woman 
ever stood so close to the Immortal as Robert E. Lee. 

I asked him to give me his advice about going to Brazil. I will 
never forget his words. 

"Your first duty," he said, "is to go home and make your 
m.other's heart glad, and your next is to Virginia. She needs all 
her sons more now than ever." He added, in substance, that we 
all must commence a, new Hfe and be good citizens. "Many of 
my soldiers have been to see me," he continued, "who were re- 
solved upon self-banishment, and in every instance I have urged 
them to stay and repair the fortunes of their State." 

While he was talking the sound of music came stealing 
through the open window ; louder and louder it grew, until the 
windows rattled with the beat of the drum. 

"What troops are those?" asked the General as he stepped to 
the window. As he stood there, bathed in the bright spring sun- 
shine, he was visible to the Union soldiery. The men cheered 



THE CURTAIN FAL,LS 709 

him heartily, and mounted officers of the staff and foot officers 
of the Hne saluted with their swords. 

■'They know you, General," I said, "as well as your own men 
do." 

He bowed his head and resumed his walk up and down the 
room. I left the great commander to his thoughts, never lov- 
ing him in his power as I did in his days of sorrow. 

At the house of a friend I was introduced to a colonel of an 
Ohio regiment of Sherman's Army of the Tennessee, and ac- 
cepted his invitation to be his guest on my way home to Alex- 
andria; so by a queer trick of fate, here I was riding at the head 
of a Union brigade in full uniform. 

I may say here that no man ever received more chivalrous 
courtesy or delicate kindness. Every private soldier had a 
cheery word, and the Colonel and his military staff were to me as 
if I had been their own kith and kin. 

While at Warrenton Junction, resting a day in camp, I took 
the Colonel and his staff on a tour through Mosby's Confederacy. 
What magical change ! not a scout lurked in the woods nor a 
trooper hid in the covert. 

"Where are all of Mosby's men?" asked the Colonel. 

"There is one plowing, and that man hauling rocks was in my 
regiment, and his old horse cheated the buzzards and is pulling 
that cart as though he loved it." 

I bade farewell to my newly found blue-coated friends at War- 
renton Junction and started to visit some of my friends a few 
miles away. I had not gone over a mile when I saw a squadron 
of cavalry coming from the direction of Warrenton. When I 
saw the yellow-striped jackets of my former foes I swung my 
mare around instinctively to take to the woods ; but I had re- 
ceived so much kindness from my erstwhile foes that I advanced 
to meet them. It was a case of misplaced confidence. The war 
was over, it is true, but I had a fine mare, and a parole in my 
pocket. The mare was sired by the famous Chantilly, and she 
was a beauty. Old instincts were strong, and I swapped the 
brown filly for an old plug that should have been ground up into 
bone-dust long before the war commenced. My! this was "fat 
and lean" for sure, and I felt like saying with Bill Arp: "If this 
is peace it is of the biblical kind and 'surpasseth all understand- 

I could imagine what Dick Martin would have said had he 
been in my situation. Dick is given to profanity when pro- 



7IO JOHNNY REB AND BIIvLY YANK 

voked ; he would have said to the man who took the mare : "I 
hope she will throw you and break your damn neck." 

But "good can come out of Nazareth !" That night I heard 
of an incident pertaining to a Federal officer which deserves to 
be chronicled; it was an act that would have graced the most 
chivalrous knight of the crusaders. It happened near Salem in 
Mosby's Confederacy. Miss Gertrude Ashby, a lovely girl in 
her teens, was visiting a neighbor, and walking along the broad 
road, lined on each side by a stone wall, she, to her dismay and 
horror, met a brigade of Federal cavalry. She was so overcome 
with fright that she had to hold on to the wall for support. The 
general commanding, seeing her terror, rode up to her, saluted, 
and then took his post beside her. 

What a picture for an artist : the timid, shrinking girl ; the 
passing soldiery, the figure on horseback as motionless as though 
cast in bronze ; not until the last man had passed did he move, 
then lifting his hat he rode on and took his place at the head of 
his column. 

If the war broke out suddenly, it ended just as abruptly; or 
as an old Reb said, "the Confederacy was like a candle — it did 
not flicker, but went right out." 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

THE WHY AND THE WHEREFORE. 

One bright, sunny morning I stood on the Avenue in Wash- 
ington and watched the last review of the Army of the Potomac. 
What a pageant! What a subhme sight as the great host of vet- 
erans in soHd columns marched along the thoroughfare! i\s a 
soldier, my eye delighted to dwell upon them. Their disdpline 
and drilling were perfect. They were veterans in the truest 
sense of the term, and welded as in one mass the Grand Army of 
the Potomac, which, though often thrown in the Titan's wrest- 
ling match, like Anteus, arose from each fall doubly strengthened, 
until at last its antagonist lay prostrate. Now as the victor they 
traversed the street with pardonable pride, because the principles 
for which they had contended so stoutly and so gloriously were 
vindicated. 

"Surely," thought I, "the world never saw a finer military 
pageant, or a more eftective fighting force even when Caesar 
marched his legions with *Io Triumphe' on his banner along the 
Corso of Rome; or when Napoleon reviewed his grand army at 
Champ de Mars when it returned after having carried their 
eagle through every city in Germany." 

What Southerner standing perdu in the crowd could help a 
feeling of pride in that his countrymen had withstood the mighty 
onset of this superb army for four years? 

As for myself, though I was conquered, I felt no shame in 
having been vanquished by such a vast multitude of warriors who 

"Followed their flag 
To the tap of the drum." 

Among scholars, critics and military men the cause of the 
defeat of the French at Waterloo, and the changing of the map 
of Europe thereby, is discussed with as much animation to-day 
as it was nearly a century ago ; and in America, at least, the topic 
of the Civil ^^^ar will be of supreme interest to the descendants 
of those who engaged in the struggle ; and to those whose sym- 
pathies were with the South there is every proof that the soldiers 
in the field did their part, the women at home did theirs, but that 
the Government failed lamentably. 



712 JOHNNY REB and BIIvLY YANK 

The causes of the failure of the Confederate States to achieve 
their object for separate government were many. 

Access to the store-houses of the Confederacy was blocked 
when the Mississippi River was closed by the surrender of Vicks- 
burg, and it was the duty of the Navy to see that no goods were 
shipped in through the windows. 

When the ports of Charleston and Wilmington were tightly 
corked, the impoverished country around Richmond could only 
give in driblets a little meal, pork and cow-beans, that was all. 

I do not believe that any fair-minded man can study the his- 
tory of the war between the States without coming to the con- 
clusion that the Army of the Potomac could never have van- 
quished their adversary without the aid of the Navy. Had the 
ports been open and enough food imported to have fed Lee's 
Army, Lee could have carried on the contest more aggressively 
and with better chances for success. Again and again Lee was 
compelled to forego glowing opportunities that offered chances 
of success because five days' rations for his soldiers could not be 
had. The want of forage ruined the cavalry in the last year of 
the war, and hunger broke the morale of the troops. To be 
beaten, the Army of Northern Virginia must needs be weakened 
by starvation. 

First, and principally, was the selection of Mr. Davis as Presi- 
dent. The Confederacy was not a nation among the peoples of 
the earth, but merely the struggle of a minority rebelling against 
encroachment on their vested rights, and seeking by force of 
arms to establish itself as a distinctive realm. Mr. Davis could 
not understand this glaring fact, or at least he seemed not to 
comprehend it. and he acted as if he were the chief of a great 
Commonwealth, engaging in an equal struggle with a neighbor- 
ing power. 

A figurehead for President during the great war was all that 
was needed, and had the South chosen almost any one else, her 
success would have been almost assured. The soldiers, as in 
Cromwell's time, could have ruled by the sword, and by the 
sword alone. Unfortunately, Mr. Davis had seen service in a 
a few battles in Mexico, and shone there as a brave and dashing 
officer, and naturally he believed that he was a master in the art of 
war — a belief to which the most deplorable results are attributable. 

Every one of his favorite generals brought disaster and mis- 
fortune upon the Confederate arms — Bragg, Pemberton, Huger, 
Northrup, Winder, Whiting, Benjamin and a number of 



rUJi WHY AND THE WHEREFORE 713 

less prominent officials who were appointed and upheld by him, 
despite the earnest remonstrance of military men and in the 
teeth of public opinion. Could the two factions have exchanged 
Presidents, and the South have had Mr. Lincoln as her chief 
magistrate, with his sagacity, his personal magnetism, his strong 
common sense, his patriotism, his readiness to yield his own 
opinion to others of greater experience, his willingness to remit 
his absolute power when his shrewd intuitions told him it was 
best, then there would have been two nations alike in lineage and 
language, but distinct in laws, inhabiting the continent of North 
America to-day. 

Mr. Davis's imprisonment was the worst blunder of statecraft 
the Government of the United States ever committed. Its ob- 
ject, as Mr. Andrew Johnson expressed it, ''was to make treason 
odious," and they hunted down Mr. Davis, and thus, through his 
sufferings, as the exponent of a cause dearer perhaps at that 
time to the hearts of the Southern people than even their sacred 
religion, the ex-President became almost a canonized saint. 
Had yir. Davis been treated by the victors exactly as the rest of 
the Confederate leaders were, he would voluntarily have chosen 
either banishment like Benjamin, or utter isolation as did Pem- 
berton. 

The second cause of disaster was the death of Stonewall Jack- 
son, who was the genius of the Rebellion. Had he lived it is 
almost a certainty that, notwithstanding his modesty, he would 
have been the Military Dictator of the Confederacy. Had Jack- 
son conceived the idea, and been imbued with the faith that God 
had predestined him to lead the people out of bondage, even as 
Moses did the Israelites, he would have accepted the mission. 
When he fell the Eagle of Victory wended its way Northward 
and perched on the standard of the Union. 

The third was the appointment of General Jubal Early to an 
independent command. The right hand of Lee was broken when 
Jackson's former legion was overthrown, and their surrender be- 
came unavoidable. 

The military government of the Confederacy could not have 
been more imbecile. In the dark days of the Revolutionary War 
there were noble patriots in Congress : such men as Governor 
Morris and Thomas Payne, who proved a tower of strength to 
their cause. In the Confederate Congress there was not a man 
above mediocrity. 

The organization of the armies commenced wrong; a great 



714 JOHNNY REB and BILI,Y YANK 

blunder was made when the law was passed to allow the cavalry- 
men to own their horses, and to return home on furlough to ob- 
tain remounts. It marred the discipline of that branch of the 
service and kept many troopers away from their commands. It 
certainly lessened the effective force of Stuart's cavalry at least 
33 per cent. 

Then the management of the commissariat was abominable, 
even in the first year of the war, when provisions were plentiful. 
But worst of all was the policy of non-promotion for valor and 
skill. It was reversing the practice of every great soldier in 
either ancient or modern times. No matter how brave and skil- 
ful a private showed himself to be, a private he was likely to re- 
main. This passive policy crushed all ambition and skill and every 
incentive to action. 

The War Office viewed with indifference the brave deeds of the 
soldiery, and the men, recognizing the fact that there was no 
chance to rise, did not exert themselves. "We will wait until 
peace is declared and then we will get promoted," they all said. 

Could the irony of absurdity go farther? When we read that 
every trusted centurion of Caesar's Legions rose from the ranks, 
that all of Oliver Cromwell's generals once carried a pike, that 
Napoleon's most brilliant marshals once bore a knapsack, we can 
only wonder at the blind fatuity of the Confederate leaders. 

There were fully a score of the Black Horsemen who should 
have commanded regiments, but not one among that famous 
organization, though graduates of colleges, men of wealth, brains 
and brave soldiers, and trained for years in the stern school of 
war, ever rose beyond the rank of private except two or three 
with Mosby's Rangers. 

In regard to Slavery in the South, Lane but voiced public 
sentiment : "Negro slavery had flourished in America because of 
its isolation. The Southern States, as might have been expected, 
were stronger in military genius than the States of the North. 

"This was true because agriculture was entirely in the hands of 
the slaves, leaving the master-class free to cultivate military tra- 
ditions. The Southern Confederacy presented a case very much 
like that of Ancient Rome; it might have continued uninter- 
ruptedly for centuries had its isolation been complete, but it 
could not live in the midst of an environment so essential to the 
institutions of the Northern States and Europe. The entire ma- 
terial wealth of the Confederacy was insignificant as compared 



I 



THE WHY AND THE WHEREFORE ^1$ 

with that of the free States; the Confederacy's material instru- 
ments either of defense or aggression. 

"In the conflict the Confederacy fell in spite of the brilliant 
superiority of its military leaders." (Lane's "Social Nation," p. 

I34-5-) . 

That is true in part; the negro, while a burden and a curse to 
the South before the conflict, yet he was a great source of strength 
when the war was on. It was the negro who tilled the crops 
and fed the armies. It was the negro that cared for the women 
and children and managed the farms ; and there was no time 
during the contest that they could not have ended the war within 
a week. 

There was one advantage the South had over her adversary: 
there was more unity among "the powers that be." With the 
exception of President Davis's rows, there was little dissension 
among the Southern leaders. In the North, on the contrary, 
strife, discord and jealousy pervaded every branch of the service. 

"A house divided against itself is bound to fall," and the Union 
edifice tottered, sagged, swayed and came near falling in ruins. 
The only exception was Lincoln, who shone like a fixed pole-star 
among the shooting meteors. It was he and the middle classes 
that propped and rebuilt the house. 

Among the generals and politicians it was a regular Donnybrook 
fair — where you see a head above the others, hit it. 

It was a wonder that the Army of the Potomac did not go 
down before its adversary, for their officers were rending each 
other like a pack of ravening wolves. 

What a record ! McDowell and McClellan ridiculing Scott ; 
McDowell charging Patterson with being an imbecile for letting 
Johnson leave the Valley; Banks kicking Shields; Fremont 
cursing Milroy; Pope villifying McClellan; Major-General 
Fitz John Porter dismissed ignominiously ; Burnside defaming 
Franklin ; Hooker, intriguing for the command of the army, de- 
claring that Burnside ^vas insane ; McClellan, the organizer of 
the army, practically under arrest at his home in Trenton ; Pleas- 
onton, the greatest cavalry leader of the North, was literally 
kicked out of the army on account of his politics ; Grant abused 
as a drunkard ; Butler and Admiral Porter were at daggers' 
points; Sheridan disgracing Warren, who saved the nation at Get- 
tysburg; and Howard and Devins sent out West. Stanton, the 
ablest war secretary since Carnot, with a temper of Thersetes, 
insulted all who came in contact with him, and was cordially 



7l6 JOHNNY REB AND BILLY YANK 

detested by every man who wore the shoulder straps. There 
were scores and scores of officers, from the commanding gen- 
eral down to the officers of the line, who, after spending years in 
heroic endeavors, were forced to retire to private life and see 
others wear the laurels their valor had won. 

In the Southern Army there was no politics and but little 
bickering. 

During the last winter of the war had Mr. Davis and the Con- 
federate Congress, who were in a position to know the desperate 
and hopeless condition of the New Republic, knowing that slavery 
was doomed in any event, armed the slaves, with the proviso that 
every man who volunteered would be a free man forever, there 
would have been no Appomattox. 

General Lee favored the plan, but the "powers that be" looked 
askance. 

Johnny Reb did the best he knew how; he fought anything 
and everything and never counted the odds ; he labored and 
slaved for years without pay and without reward. There was no 
lust of conquest in his eye, no hope of domination in his heart; 
he fought on his own soil — he fought for principle and because he 
did not believe the men who came on his "native heath," chasing 
him and shooting at him, were his friends, nor could he compre- 
hend that he was being killed for his own good. So Johnny Reb 
for four long years faced the tempest of war, and during those 
dark but unutterably glorious days, how he played his part will 
be the theme of the historian and the poet in the ages yet to 
come. 



INDEX 



A 

Addison, John. Lieut., 17th Va., 256, 

344. 
Addison, Walter. Private, 128, 184, 

241, 247. 
Alexandria, Va., 16. 
Alston, Harold. Private, 445, 552, 556. 
Anderson, R. H. Gen., C. S. A., 141. 
Archer. Gen., C. S. A., 388. 
Armistead. Gen., C. S. A., 412, 413. 
Artillery, Washington, 61. 
Ashby, Gertrude, Miss, 710. 
Ashton, Lai. Private, Black Horse 

Cav., 542, 552, 556. 

B 

Bailey, G. D. Col., U. S. A., 143. 

Ball, Mott D. Capt., 39. 

Ballenger, Bob. Private, 489, 490, 494, 

503. 
Ballenger, Frank. Private, 17th Va., 

191, 249. 
Bannister, Fannie, Miss, 351. 
Beach. Col., U. S. A., 300. 
Beauregard, P. T. Gen., C. S. A., 45, 

650. 
Benjamin. Secretary, 566. 
Berdan, C, no. 

Berkeley, Edmond. Col., C. S. A., 662. 
Black Horse Cavalry, 419, 421, 424, 439, 

441, 448, 523, 534, 509, 609, 665, 680. 
Blenker. Gen., U. S. A., 369. 
Blow, George. Col., C. S. A., 582, 583. 
Blow, William. Capt., 580, 581, 703, 

704. 
Bonham. Gen., C. S. A., 645. 
Boston, Mass., 215. 
Boteler, Joe. Private, Black Horse 

Cav., 429, 542. 
Botts, John Minor, Hon., 431, 435, 436, 

437, 438, 533, 608, 633, 635. 
Brandy Station, 434, 608. 
Breathed, Jim. Major, C. S. A., 533, 

539- 
Breckinridge. Gen., C. S. A., 567. 
Briggs, Henry. Col., loth Mass., 143. 
Brockenbrough. Gen., C. S. A., 390, 

391- 



Buckner, B. Gen., C. S. A., 218. 
Broun, William. Capt., C. S. A., 39°. 
Buford. Gen., U. S. A., 388. 
Burke. Capt., 17th Va., 140. 
Burnside, Ambrose. Gen., U. S. A.. 

276, 530. 
Butler, Ben. Gen., U. S. A., 373- 
Butler, Doc. Private, Black Horse 

Cav., 445. 

C 

Cameron, Wm. E. Governor, 661. 
Campbell. Private, Black Horse Cav., 

670. 
Carter, Thomas. Col., 653. 
Casey. Gen., U. S. A., 128, 139, 142, 

14s, 292. 
Catholic, Roman, 562, 563. 
Chapman. Col., C. S. A., 664. 
Chickahominy River, 129. 
Coleman, James. Private, 17th Va.. 

249, 265. 
Corse, Montgomery D. C. S. A., 138. 

140, 148, 150, 265. 
Conn. Troops, 8th Inf., 300. 
Cumberland, Md., 496. 
Gushing. Lieut., U. S. A., 411. 
Cutler. Gen., U. S. A., 389- 

D 

Dana, Charles A., S90, 59i- 
Daniel. Gen., C. S. A., 390. 
Davis, Jefferson. President, 75, 76, 77, 
78, 566, 567, 649, 662, 690, 691, 712. 

7^3- 
Davis. Gen., C. S. A., 387. 
Devaughn. Capt., 17th Va., 19. 
Diggs. Corp.. 17th Va., 140. 
Dimmock. Col., U. S. A., 219, 221, 

2.2,2.. 
Doubieday, Abner. Gen., U. S. A.. 386. 

388, 389, 392, 393, 403. 
Douglas, Tom. Private, 17th Va., 28. 
Dulaney, Wm. H. Capt., 17th Va., 56. 



Eaches, Hector. Private, 139, 161, 191. 
225. 



7i8 



JOHNNY REB AND BILI^Y YANK 



Early, Jubal. Gen., C. S. A., 399, 531, 
649, 650, 652, 654, 655, 657, 658, J59, 

Edelin, Will. Private, 365, 568, 570, 

60s, 606, 607. 
Ellsworth. Col. of Zouaves, U. S. A., 

36. 
Ewell. Gen., C. S. A., 390, 393, 394, 

398, 401. 
Examiner, Richmond, 20. 

F 

Fairfax, Raymond. Capt., 17th Va. 

136. 
Fowle, William H. Capt., 17th Va., 

19. 
Francis. Sergt.-Major., 17th Va., 140. 
Fredericksburg, Va., 425. 

G 

Garnett, A. Y. P. Doctor, 563, 564, 690. 
Gibbon. Gen., u. S. A., 592, 593, 594. 
Gordon, Charles A., 356, 418, 53i- 
Gordon, John B. Gen., C. S. A., 141, 
393, 398, 400, 402, 650, 651, 652, 653, 

654, 655- 
Gordonsville, 559. 
Governors Island, 201, 210. 
Grant, U. S. S. Gen., U. S. A., 528, 

529, 560, 588, 589, 590, 591, 592, 691, 

702, 704. 
Gray, William. Lieut., 17th Va., 140, 

149. 
Green, Sym. Private, Black Horse 

Cav., 547. 
Grover. Gen., U. S. A., 202. 

H 

Halleck. Gen., U. S. A., 229, 232, 372. 
Hancock, Winfield S. Gen., U. S. A., 

360, 399, 549, 592, 593, 594- 
Hardy. Private, Richmond Howitzers, 

368. 
Harmon, William. 17th Va., 208. 
Harper. Private, 17th Va.. 136, 340. 
Harper's Ferry, 480. 
Hartley, Eph. Private, 17th Va., 72. 
Haves. Gen., C. S. A.. 406, 409. 
Heth, Harry. Gen., C. S. A., 388, 389. 
Heinrich, Oscar. Col., C. S. A., 360. 
Herald. Capt., 17th Va., 109. 
Herbert, Arthur. Col., 17th Va., 257. 
Higdon. Private, 17th Va., 257. 
Hill, A. P. Gen., C. S. A., 181, 232, 

277, 29s, 386, 392, 394, 401, 402, 409- 



Hill, D. H. Gen., C. S. A., 127, 141, 

145. 275, 276, 409. 
Hill, Tower, 578, 580, 583, 584, 690, 703. 
Hite, Hugh. Private, 17th Va., 72. 
Hoke. Gen., C. S. A., 406, 407. 
Hood, John B. Gen., C. S. A., 251, 

334, 405- 
Hooker, Jos. Gen., U. S. A., 352, 353, 

354, 355, 384, 387- 
Home, Soldiers', 600, 601, 602. 
Hopkins, Fred. Mosby's Rangers, 675. 
Howard. Gen., U. S. A., 355. 
Howitzers, Richmond, 368, 370, 371, 

272, 375- 
Huger. Gen., C. S. A., 127, 128, 141, 

142, 151, 180, 181. 
Hunt. Gen., U. S. A., 410. 
Hunter, David. Gen., U. S. A., 587, 

675. 

I 

Indiana Troops, 19th Inf., 388. 
Island, Governors, N. Y., 209, 210. 
Iverson. Gen., C. S. A., 387. 



Jackson. Citizen, ^t'^. 

Jackson, Stonewall. Gen., C. S. A., 
160, 170, 182, 228, 230, 231, 232, 234, 
275, 29s, 352, 356, 360, 362, 363, 364, 
365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 398, 
399, 416, 532, 595, 651, 713. 

Jarvins. Lieut., 17th Va., 56. 

Johnson, Connie. Private, 17th Va., 
184. 

Johnson, Edward. Gen., C. S. A., 405. 

Johnston, Jos. E. Gen., C. S. A., 125, 
126, 127, 128, 649, 699. 

Jones, Ravenscroft, 694. 

Jones, William J., Rev., 398. 

Joynes, Judge, Mrs., 351. 

K 

Kautz. Gen., U. S. A., 587. 

Kearny, Phil. Gen., U. S. A., 95, 166, 

261, 306. 
Kemper, Del. Col., C. S. A., 18, 19. 
Kemper, Jas. L. Gen., C. S. A., 134, 

141, 145, 148, 303, 204, 419. 
Kershaw. Gen., C. S. A., 653, 658. 
Kilpatrick. Gen., U. S. A., 609. 
Knox, Robt. Capt., 17th Va., 140. 



Lambert. Private, Richmond How- 
itzers, 573, 574. 



INDEX 



719 



Lane. Gen., C. S. A., 390, 414. 

Lee, Fitz. Gen., C. S. A., 140, 385. 

Lee, John H. Major, C. S. A., 642. 

Lee, Robert E. Private, 199. 

Lee, Robert E. Gen., C. S. A., 168, 
179, 230, 378, 394, 397, 401, 409, 414, 
415, 516, 532, 566, 567, 591, 595, 657, 
659, 660, 662, 664, 687, 695, 706, 708, 
709, 712. 

Lee, W. H. F. Gen., C. S. A., 385. 

Lewis, M. M. Dr., C. S. A., 112, 162. 

Lewis, Richard. Private, Black Horse 
Cav., 576. 

Lincohi. President, 373, 712. 

Litchfield, 642. 

Long-street, P. Gen., C. S. A., 52, 59, 
64. 127, 141, 142, 154, 160, 180, 181, 
234, 275, 276, 401, 402, 404, 405, 409, 
412, 529, 530, 532. 

Louisiana Troops, 9th Regt., 407. 

M 

McCall. Gen., U. S. A., 193, 202. 
McCaughrey. 8th 111. Cav., 633. 
McClellan, Geo. B. Gen., U. S. A., 108, 

128, 144. 
McDowell. Gen., U. S. A., 234. 
McGuire, Hunter, Dr., 319. 
McLaws, L. Gen., C. S. A., 409. 
Magill. Doctor., of Hagerstown, Md., 

217, 219. 
Magruder, John C. Gen., C. S. A., 180, 

182. 
Mahone, William. Gen., C. S. A., 149, 

592, 593, 650, 689. . 
Maine Troops, nth Regt., 144, 201. 
Martin, Bob. Sergt., Black Horse 

Cav., 666, 667, 668, 680. 
Martin, John. Citizen, 666, 668. 
Martin, Josh. Private, Black Horse 

Cav., 668, 669, 670, 671, 672, 673. 
Maryland Troops, ist Regt., 480. 
Marstella, A. A. Private, Black Horse 

Cav., 578. 
Marye, Morton. Col., 17th Va., 19, 30, 

133, 184, 201, 208, 248, 259. 
Mass. Troops, ist Regt., 59, 144. 
Mass. Troops, loth Regt., 143. 
Mass. Troops, i6th Regt., 202. 
Meade, Geo. Gen., U. S. A., 373, 383, 

394, 401, 404, 415. 
Meagher's Irish Brigade, 322. 
Meigs, John W. Capt., U. S. A., 670, 

671, 672, 673. 
Meigs. Q. M. G., U. S. A., 324. 



Meredith's Iron Brigade, 388, 393. 
Michigan Troops, 24th Inf., 3S0. 
Michigan Troops, 2d Cav., 432. 
Mills, John. Private, 17th Va., 30, 34. 
Morrill. Sergt., 17th Va., 136, 140. 
Mosby's Confederacy, 642, 646. 
Mosby, John S. Col., C. S. A., 680. 

N 

Naglee. Gen., U. S. A., 144. 
New York Troops, 2nd Inf., 202. 
New York Troops, 9th Inf., 300. 
New York Troops, 20th Inf., 414. 
New York Troops, s6th Inf., 144. 
North Carolina Troops, 6th Inf., 407, 
413- 

O 

O'Neal. Gen., C. S. A., 389. 
Ogden, D'Orsay, 338. 
Ohio Troops, 55th Regt., 356. 
Ord. Gen., U. S. A., 595, 596. 



Payne, Alex. Capt, Black Horse Cav., 

418, 541, 542. 
Payne, William H. Gen., C. S. A., 419. 
Pender. Gen., C. S. A., 412, 413, 541, 

542. 
Penn. Troops, ist Cav., 452. 
Penn. Troops, 7th Inf., 357. 
Penn. Troops, loth Inf., 203. 
Penn. Troops, 26th Inf., 202. 
Penn. Troops, 93d Inf., 484. 
Penn. Troops, 103d Inf., 142. 
Penn. Troops, 151st Inf., 414. 
Petersburg, 341. 
Pettigrew. Gen., C. S. A., 412. 
Pickett, George. Gen., C. S. A., 174, 

409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 596. 
Pleasanton, Alfred. Gen., U. S. A., 

572, 609. 
Pope, John. Gen., U. S. A., 228, 229, 

230, 234, 23s, 237, 261, 262, 263. 
Porter, David. Admiral, U. S. N., 373. 
Porter, Fitz John. Gen., U. S. A., 206, 

336. 
Preestman. Capt., 17th Va., 56. 
Prison, Old Capitol, 458, 459. 
Purcell's Battery, C. S. A., 391. 

R 

Randolph, Robert. Col., Black Horse 
Cav., 419, 420. 



720 






Reid, Joe. Sergt., Black Horse Cav., 

429. 
Richmond, Va., lOi, 102. 
Robinson, Julien. Mosby's Rangers, 

487, 501, 503, 504, 506, 524. 
Robinson. Gen., U. S. A., 388. 
Robertson, Bev. Gen., C. S. A., 385. 
Rodes. Gen., C. S. A., 141, 145, 393. 
Rosser, Tom. Gen., C. S. A., 653, 655, 

656, 678, 680. 
Rouzie. Sergt., 17th Pa. Cav., 676, 

677, 678, 679. 

S 

Sangster, Ned. Private, 17th Va. 

247. 
Saunders. Sergt., 17th Va., 184. 
Scales. Gen., C. S. A., 390. 
Schafer, Frank. Private, 7th Va. Cav., 

670. 
Schenck. Gen., U. S. A., 19. 
Schurz, Carl. Gen., U. S. A., 356. 
Scott, John. Major, Black Horse Cav., 

419- 
Selden, John. Lieut., C. S. A., 462. 
Shephard. Private, Black Horse Cav., 

548, 558. 
Sherman, W. T. Gen., U. S. A., 596, 

597- 
Sheridan, Phil. Gen., U. S. A., 529, 

587, 656. 
Sickles, Daniel E. Gen., U. S. A., 404, 

406. 
Sigel, Franz. Gen., U. S. A., 237, 529. 
Sir John's Run, Md., 504, 506. 
Slaughter. Lieut., 17th Va., 207. 
Slaughter, Phil. Major, C. S. A., 698, 

699. 
Smith, William. Capt., 17th Va., 343. 
Smith, William. Gen., C. S. A., 400. 
Spillman, Willie. Private, 378. 
South Carolina Inf., 42. 
Sowers, Cuthbert. Private, C. S. A., 

544- 
Stars and Stripes, 536. 



JOHNNY REB and BILLY YANK f / 

Stuart s Horse Artillery, 536. 
Stuart, J. E. B. Gen., C. S. A.. 151, 
163, 381, 384, 38s, 387, 515, 521. 



Tate. Major, C. S. A., 409. 

Taylor, George. Private, Black Horse 

Cav., 444. 
Taylor, Walter H. Col, C. S. A., 235, 

275, 276, 397. 

Terrett, George. Col., C. S. A., 24. 
Terry. Col., C. S. A., 55. 
Thorne, Billy. Private, Black Horse 
Cav., 509, 610, 612, 614, 617, 621, 625. 
Thunder, Castle, 600, 601, 602, 606, 607. 
Toombs, Robert. Gen., C. S. A., 53, 

276, 277. 

Tompkins, Sallie, Miss., 563, 564, 565. 
Trimble. Gen., C. S. A., 412. 

V 
Venable. Col., C. S. A., 595. 

W 

Walker, Francis. Gen., U. S. A., 594. 
Walker, Lindsay. Gen., C. S. A., 319. 
Wallace, Lew. Gen., U. S. A., 650. 
Ward, Bollivar. Private, Black Horse 

Cav., 525. 
Warren. Col., U. S. A., 236. 
Warren. Gen., U. S. A., 591. 
Warren. Fort, Mass., 217. 
Warrenton, N. C, 696. 
Washington, Courtenay, 378. 
Webb, Gen. U. S. A., 411. 
West Virginia Inf., 15th Regt., U. S. 

A., 507, 511. 
Whiting. Gen., C. S. A., ^gS. 
Willcox, Orlando. Gen., U. S. A., 594 
Wilson. Gen., U. S. A., 587. 
Wisconsin Troops, 6th Inf., 288. 
Wisconsin Troops, 7th Inf., 288, 389. 



Zimmerman, John, 184. 



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